old people...

I thought it might be interesting to post random facts about me, Dave and the kids every once in awhile. Maybe every Friday. Fun Facts Friday or something obnoxious like that. :) Seriously though, a thought dawned on me while I was at the rec. center this morning, and I don't think I've ever recorded it anywhere. Here it is:

I love old people. I really, really do. The cranky ones are fine, but the sweet, lovey ones...oh my gosh. I graduated from BYU in Therapeutic Recreation years and years ago. I really thought I would go into medicine. My dad and brother are both doctors. I thought I wanted to do the same thing with my life, or at least be a nurse. Anyhow, after a pre-nursing class, I changed my mind. I wanted to be a mom, first and foremost. The fast harried pace and late, long hours of nursing didn't really jive with me.

I figured maybe the next best thing would be some sort of therapy. Oooo...how about RECREATIONAL therapy? Sounds good to me. I did an internship with youth at risk at the Heritage Schools in Orem. Not my thing. Then I did one at Cove Point Retirement Center and loved it. I really did. I loved talking with the sweet, lonely, loving people there. It was very rewarding.

I can't really handle seeing old people sit alone at restaurants. It makes me sad. It always has. I don't even know if THEY are sad, but I am.

Anyhow, I decided NOT to work at Cove Point after I graduated. Instead, I worked at RAH! with mentally handicapped sweeties, ages 4-60-ish. That is a post for a whole separate day. I LOVE those people. I still think about them frequently. They made me truly happy.

*The "old" lady in this photo is my Grandmother, Elizabeth Lilley. She was an angel. An angel who would make you wet your pants with her funny ways.

mls...

Margaret Lilley. Mmm...I am obsessed with her lately. That's not to say she doesn't drive me nuts sometimes. Like when I'm lying on the couch being 100% lazy and she's climbing all OVER me, and I bark at her, then Dave chews me out for hurting her feelings. Anyhow, aside from those clingy moments, she is a doll.

Did you ever have times when you were younger and you would see a super cute kid? You wanted to squeeze them and kiss them. It was all you could do to peel your eyes off of them. You wanted to hold them all the time. Record their voice. Steal them from your older siblings. That's how I felt about my nieces and nephews growing up, and it's how I feel about Margaret now. She's like a delicious, compact, funny, little doll baby.

I am in love. She has started oozing with personality recently. She still doesn't really talk, but what she does say is absolutely adorable. Right now, she is really into singing. In church on Sunday, she sat with a hymnal in her lap, concentrating really hard (she furrows her eyebrows) and "di-dah-doo"-ing. The verse would end, the congregation would quiet, but Margie would keep singing. Oh my gosh, she was really making us laugh. A freaking riot! She also climbs up to the piano. She opens whatever book is in front of her, tinkers out some notes, and "sings". She serenades me while I do the dishes.

She says "no" a lot. Not sassy or bratty, it's just one of the few words she's really good at. She says it more like "nooooo-uh". Like I said, she's adorable.

Lizzy loves putting Margaret's hair in a little piggie. I have to admit, part of my love affair with her right now may be due to the cutest ponytail I have ever seen in my 37 years. It bounces when she runs. Oh my...her running. It is awkward and so, so cute. She can't run without leaning forward a little, but leaning forward makes her lose her balance. She's sorting it out, but right now, we just laugh at her. Don't worry. Her feelings aren't hurt. :)

Took some video of her at the piano today. I'll see how comlicated it is to transfer to the computer. It would make your day. I promise.

*On another note, did the elliptical again today. It was good. I worked really hard. Actually, I feel like I got up to the same level of exersion as running my 7 mile loop. It felt great. Don't worry about me. Not running the Ogden marathon is becoming much more of a reality to me, but I can handle it. I will just run the Provo River Half in a few months and knock the socks off my old time.

my "no-exercise" induced depression...

I exercised today for the 1st time in 2 weeks. 2 whole weeks. I haven't missed this much running since I started this whole ordeal almost a year and 1/2 ago. I even got semi-deathly ill in May and still only missed 13 days. I was able to do the elliptical machine for an hour. I set the mode to random and the level to anywhere between 5 and 8. There were lots of hills. There was lots of sweat. And I loved it!

On my run with Kami on Wednesday the 6th, I noticed a little hint of pain in my lower back. Tightness really. It hardly bothered me at all. Kami had just mentioned that her back was sore from a workout the night before and I almost wondered if I was having sympathy pains. I wasn't. Anyhow, I finished that 10 miler, no problem. Did another 7 around the track at the Orem Rec. on Thursday, 12 miles Saturday, and another 10 mile hill run with Kami the following Monday. None of the runs really bothered me until that last 10 miler. The others weren't perfect. There was a nagging, but not really pain.

Halfway through our run, when we finally got to the top of all our hills, I told Kami I wanted to stop and stretch for about 60 seconds, then I'd be ready to go again. I stretched. Then it seemed like all my muscles seized up. When we started again, I could hardly go. I was limping. The pain was pretty intense. I finished the run, stretched, then waited for my body to do it's thing.

You see, in the past, when I've suffered some sort of set-back (bursitis, screaming quad muscles, etc.), my body has healed itself. I just knew that would happen this time if I hung in there.

I was in so much pain by the end of that day. Kami had me visit her MIL who is a healer of sorts. She thought I may have slipped a disk, rubbed me out a little, and showed me a technique for getting the disk back in it's place. I really liked her, but she headed out of town just after our visit.

The next day was no better. I decided not to run. My friend made an appointment for me with her chiropractor later that afternoon. You have to understand...I don't do the chiropractor thing. My dad is a physician and they just don't dig chiro's. I'm not really even sure why. I was worried and anxious. He was nice. Had me describe my pain, sit with some heat on my back, then readjusted me. That's my biggest hangup. The adjusting part. The cracking. I can't even handle people cracking their knuckles. Ew. Anyhow, by the next day, there was no change, and I was extremely discouraged.

We headed up to Idaho to visit Dave's parents. I took my running clothes figuring I would heal and do some running up there in preparation for my 22 miler scheduled for Saturday. I didn't run. Not once. In fact, my pain intensified and I limped everywhere. I was hurting so bad.

I made a visit to our brother in law, Dr. Jones, who prescribed a steroid for inflammation. He really thought that was my problem. That evening, after my first dose and 800 mg of ibuprofin, I felt almost as good as new. SUPER hopeful and really happy. It didn't last though. That weekend I limped everywhere. The pain was travelling down my right side and even made my feet tingle at times. Wierd. It hurt crazy bad on our drive home. :(

After that trip, I had my 1st visit with Dr. Brady...another friend's chiropractor. He first thought it was a disk issue, but now having been to him 4 times, he feels it is trouble with my piriformis muscle which is in turn aggravating my sciatic nerve which runs right under it. Each time I go, I get a massage, 5-10 minutes with a heat pad on my back, and bio-puncture. Yup...puncture. In my bum. It doesn't feel really good, but it is supposed to help loosen and calm my muscle.

My muscles also got calmed when I went to Diana Gallop for a 1 hour massage. She is out of town right now, but you better believe I will be waiting on her front porch when she gets back.

Yesterday, Dr. Brady had me run on a treadmill so he could watch my gait. It has all sorts of problems, it turns out. I knew my form wasn't great, but it's hurting me. My right foot turns out, my feet land under my pelvis, rather than under my hips, and I land too far back on my heels. All fixable, which is great news. BUT, not all fixable by my marathon on May 21st. He told me I could run it, possibly, but he doesn't think I should. It would set me back quite a bit.

I tried really hard not to get teary when he told me that. It didn't work. See, I have trained really, really hard for this. I went from wondering if I could finish at all, to thinking I may be able to do it in 3:45. My confidence has grown so much. My endurance has grown. I've gotten faster, stronger. I know that I will be better off sacrificing this one race so that I can run more through the summer. I know that. It still stings though.

I wanted to finish this experience. I am 3/4 of the way through, and I just wanted to finish. I wanted to be able to sit and reflect on May 22nd. To be able to look back on the whole process and be able to decide if marathons are for me. I can't really make that decision now. I know I want to do one still. In a strange way, I feel like I have to. I worry that it will be looming over me though, following me everywhere.

I wish my last long run had been stronger. Kami and I did 20 miles a few weeks ago. We averaged 9 minute miles, which is pretty great considering I have never gone more than 18. The thing is, the run stunk. Kami and I were both tired from mile 6. It was really, really hard to keep going. My ice bath was miserable. I sobbed in the tub. I hurt, and it disappointed me. My legs hurt the whole night. I knew that the next time I did 20 it would be easier. There wasn't a next time though, due to all my pain. Anyhow, that has me wondering if I am a distance kind of girl. I know it's ridiculous, but these are just my thoughts.

I am SO bummed that this has happened and that it's happened NOW. I feel like I have trained well. Like I've trained smart. I've taken rest days when I've felt like I needed them. I'm sad that I won't be running it with Kami. That we won't be able to push eachother to do our absolute best. I DO think I'd still like to go up though. To cheer my face off when she achieves her goal. She will achieve it. I just wish I was going to be doing it with her.

I am so happy that Dr. Brady can help me fix this. That I can be running again really soon. That I have such supportive friends and family. That my body WILL sort out a way to heal itself. Just a minor set-back, right?

a very schofield easter...

Alright, I'm going to give you some details from our FABULOUS Easter yesterday. It did not go how I planned...from the very beginning. But I realize that is ok. It may actually even be better.

*Alex wasn't feeling well and wanted to stay home from church and take at least 3 baths. He has been taking lots during the past few days. And he apologizes every time...for using so much water. It's really cute. Anyhow, I really don't like any of us missing church and I felt REALLY strongly that we needed to be there on Easter. But you know what...he stayed home, and it was fine. The world did not stop revolving.

*Molly announced in the middle of sacrament meeting that she was feeling lousy too. She's been on and off for the last week and 1/2. SO, Dave took her home to be with Alex. That's almost 30% of us missing church on Easter Sunday. It was still fine.

*Church was wonderful. Hideko Lee spoke in sacrament meeting. I love her so much. I am very moved...every time she speaks.

*The kids wanted to hunt for eggs as soon as we got home, but you know how holiday meals can be. We had rolls to mix and rise, 3 different dishes to prepare, and nothing on the menu for dessert. Molly had decided on Friday that SHE wanted to hide the eggs this year. She thought it would be a good idea for me to email the EB and tell him we didn't need him to come until 2012. I brought the girls into my room on Saturday and dropped the bomb on them. About the EB, Santa, the tooth fairy. All of it. And they were just fine. I knew they would be.

*I convinced Dave to let us eat our ham cold. Every time we've attempted a ham recently, it gets too dry. And by the time the rest of the stuff is through with baking, it's cold anyhow. It was a tough sell, but I finally got him to cave. It was delicious! In fact, we had eaten half the thing before we even sat down at the table. This gave us more time to hunt for eggs that my girls hid.

*I didn't make the sick ones put their church clothes back on for our pictures. This is a BIG deal for me. I even heard Emily telling them to go change b/c she knew Mom would want everyone looking good for pictures. I told her not to worry, that it was OK. And it was. Alex with his wild hair and non-matching outfit, Molly in her HSM jammies. I still took pictures of them, and it didn't even make my heart race or anything.

*There were LOTS of slugs in our yard. Tiny ones, but still slugs. We had them last year too. Our grass was wet yesterday, so it was ridiculously gross. The kids were having to wipe them off their eggs. There was a giant one slithering along my bedroom floor after we came in. Slug = short/fat worm.

*We ate off of paper plates. I worried that would take away from the celebration. That it would make my kids wonder if they were special. It didn't. The food tasted just as good without the nice stuff.

*3 friends brought us treats. I guess that's why I had no dessert planned. Seriously awesome.

*I decided to give my kids movies in their baskets to eliminate some of the candy. They were thrilled. They really were. They wanted to watch Tangled, Monster House, Monsters VS Aliens...all on Easter Sunday. And I let them. I worried that the day would pass us by without really getting to the "reason for the season." Once the last non-sunday movie was over, we put in Lamb of God. I remember the first time I saw that movie. Years ago at the St. George temple visitors center, with lots and lots of RAH clients. To this day, it is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. We paused it throughout, to talk about what was happening. Why it was happening. By the time the day was through, I really think they got it. The atonement. The Savior. All of it. None of the other stuff is even important when the day can end like this.

april, so far...

My mom left a week ago, after a week long visit. I'm still alittle sad that she's gone. :( I have been craving a nice, long week with my mom. REALLY craving it. We did a whole lot of nothing while she was here. We loved every single second of it too, except for the part where she had a horrible cough and found out once she got home that she had pneumonia. You never would have known it. She was her silly, hilarious self. She made all of us really, really happy. We even snuck in a photoshoot after church last week. Everyone was a willing participant. Everyone but Margaret. I have 5 children. Sometimes I still can't believe it. 5 sweet, usually happy children. We spent part of our spring break in Idaho with Dave's parents. We had a ball. Their house is gorgeous. They seem to be doing really well. They live on some of Tom and Wendi's (Dave's sister) property, right next to their 26 horses. The kids were in heaven. Cold, wet, windy heaven.

Molly loves her Grandpa. I think he loves her too. :)

*In other news, I am not the best I've ever been. I hurt my back about 2 weeks ago, and it has continued to get worse. After a visit with a great chiropractor today, I have a sneaking feeling I am not going to be able to run this marathon in May. He thinks I may have a herniated disc. I guess we'll see. Either way, I have already taken a week off of training and will probably lose another week or even 2. I guess I could still run, but I would never be able to do as well as I'd hoped. I go back on Thursday for another visit, so I am going to put off tears and depression until I get more word from the doctor. Sad day for Amy. I have worked SO hard this past year. Marathon or not, I will keep on running.

*Margaret was really cute yesterday in church. Alex gave his 1st talk in sacrament meeting (which was great, by the way). Somehow, in the constant climbing up and down, up and down, up and down on the bench, Margaret got a scratch on her leg. She was really concerned about it. She kept pointing at it, lisping her cute little lisp. Lizzy kissed it better for her. A minute later, she found a freckle on Emily's leg. She bent over and started kissing it. It was beyond adorable, and just another reminder to me that our children watch everything we do. They love us. They want to emulate us. If nothing else makes us want to be good and faithful and righteous, that sure should.