Monthly Archives for October 2010

Om.

A lot of people already know this, but in case you don’t…I don’t like public speaking.  Not a big surprise since many people consider public speaking scarier than death, but it’s probably somewhat surprising considering that I do it, and I think I usually do a decent job of it.  The award I just won was for a presentation so I must have done a good job that day.

A lot of things got put off in the months leading up to Norah’s surgery.  A LOT.  I’ve been struggling to catch up, and I’m just chugging through the list the best I can.  Last week I got a couple of routine annual doctors’ appointments out of the way, and finally made an appointment to talk to someone about my public speaking anxiety.  I had surfed around looking at different coaches and approaches, and I finally settled on a 1-day workshop with Carla Kimball at Riverways, which was being held last Friday.  Phew!  Check.

A couple of days after I scheduled the workshop, I got an email saying that there weren’t enough people signed up and would I mind attending the November workshop instead.  AAHHHH!  I have a presentation for a group of building inspectors on the 9th!  It’s an emergency!!!  OK…maybe not an emergency, but I was all psyched up to go and it was disappointing to have to put it off.  So I asked Carla if we could do a private session instead and she agreed.

In hindsight, it was a long drive to Lebanon NH for a 2 1/2-hour session, but it was worth it.  I had read a lot about Carla and her work, and I really felt like she was a good match for me and my issues.  So we met in her office, I told her about my “symptoms,” and she spent a lot of time explaining how the brain works, and how to distract myself when my mind tries to convince me that I’m going to pass out or pee my pants in front of a bunch of fire marshals.  I like scientific evidence and Carla’s explanation really made sense. 

Then she asked the $64,000 question – what do I do to relax.  Uh…I don’t relax.  Ever.  I know it’s a problem, but I thought the problem was that my quality of life is being affected – not that it’s part of my anxiety/stress issue.  Huh.  She recommended a weekly yoga class so I’ve added finding a class to the to-do list.  Then she told me that I need to meditate for 15 minutes per day – 3 times at 5 minutes each.  Really?  Me?  Criss-cross-applesauce on a cushion??  I told Carla that if I closed my eyes to meditate I’d fall asleep, and I really believed that.

But then I started thinking about it.  I was able to use 3 different types of relaxation / self-hypnosis to have natural childbirth 3 times.  Somehow I was able to work up enough belief in those techniques to not freak out during labor.  Maybe controlling my mind WOULD help with public speaking.  Carla taught me how to meditate, and described some scientific studies about the effects of meditation on the brain.  I bought it, and I told her that I would try to meditate daily.  We scheduled a phone follow-up for one week later.

I can’t tell you that meditation has made me a new person (yet), but I have done some reading and there are plenty of people who agree with Carla on this.  I will tell you…it’s not easy for me to find time to meditate in the morning, and again during the day.  The night-time one is easy because she said I could continue my bedtime relaxation technique and count it as my third meditation.  I haven’t fallen asleep during my daytime meditations yet, and it has become startlingly clear that my mind NEVER stops.  Because I’m so busy, I’ve removed all of the “mindless” activities from my life.  I don’t watch TV without also sending emails, paying bills, or at least doing housework at the same time.  I don’t listen to music in the car, because I need the quiet time to think about the next meeting, conference call, or task I’ve got coming up.  And I’m obviously not laying out in the back yard looking at the clouds or the stars.  This is NOT GOOD!  I think my brain may be almost worn out! 

So, I need a yoga class.  Not one of those hard-core sweaty yoga classes…a class that won’t mind a creaky beginner who may have to be woken up when it’s time to go home.  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?

Go for the Gold!

This has been yet another crazy week in a busy month in what has turned out to be an insane year.  I have 73 emails that need to be answered, and 238 items on my task list.  (How is that even possible??)  So when Karen told me a couple of weeks ago that she was having a “gold party,” I put it on the calendar but didn’t really think I’d make it.  Luckily, Karen bribed me with wine, and late this afternoon I decided to go.

A “gold party” is where you dig all of your broken, outdated, and unwanted gold out of your jewelry box, and bring it to the party to sell.  Until 4:30 this afternoon, I didn’t even know where my gold jewelry was.  Ben found my jewelry box and Aliya and I went through it looking for stuff that looked like real gold.  Most of what I took to the party was from old boyfriends or was mangled.  I haven’t worn any of it for at least 10 years.  It wasn’t a very impressive pile, so I was thinking maybe $100 – $200.

I arrived at Karen’s at 6:30 and there was plenty of food, wine, and conversation, and then one by one we took our baggies into the gold specialists from Gold Party New England.  When my turn came I apologetically presented my baggie, and Kristen and Ann went to work.  About 20 minutes later I had a check in my hand for $610.77.  A real check.  Made out to me.  I don’t know if you could use an extra $600 right now, but I sure can.  I didn’t even sell everything in my bag – there were two items worth about $130 that I ended up keeping, and a few of the items with stones wouldn’t have weighed much after the stone was removed so I kept them for Aliya and Norah instead. 

I was very pleasantly surprised.  There was no pressure to sell, the prices were very fair, and the gold specialists were extremely professional and knowledgeable.  There was nothing shady about it…they tested and weighed the gold right in front of us, and calculated the prices based on about 70-75% of today’s closing price for gold.  The average check tonight was about $350, and there were two large pieces that aren’t included in that average – a $1,300 watch which one of the party guests needs to discuss with her family, and a $900 bracelet that needs further testing. 

I will be having a gold party of my own after the holidays, so start hunting now.  You’ll be amazed at what your old, broken, neglected gold is worth.

GOOOOAAALLLLLLSSS!!!

Adlani has finally found his mojo on the soccer field, after 4 seasons of bribing him with donuts and having him ask to go home in the middle of several games.  When I submitted his soccer registration, the system wouldn’t let me move him up to the U-8 league because of when his birthday falls.  Usually his birthday means that he’s one of the youngest kids…for this season it means that he’s one of the oldest. 

I think he needed this season to gain some confidence and realize that he’s a good soccer player.  It can’t be easy sharing the spotlight with Aliya, and it will get even harder next season when Norah starts playing.  But Adlani has been scoring several goals per game, without donut rewards.  Next season will be a whole different ball game, but for now, he’s a superstar.

Thank You Dr. Breuer

We had Norah’s post-op appointment with Dr. Breuer today, and she made a card for him to go with the giant bag of cookies we brought:

Dr. Breuer took off the steri-strip (like tape) that was over Norah’s incision and it doesn’t look bad at all.  He gave me some nail polish remover to get the sticky stuff off her neck…that just seems WRONG!  But…he’s the boss, so tomorrow morning I’ll be scrubbing Norah’s neck with nail polish remover.  Then we just need to keep sunscreen on it for a year to avoid having the scar “tattooed” by the sun.

So far, Norah is tolerating the replacement thyroid hormone just fine.  Her thyroid levels will be tested a month after surgery to help determine whether her dosage is correct.  She had blood drawn today to check her calcium and I’ll probably hear from Dr. Rivkees on that tomorrow.  My guess is that her calcium level is fine.  She has 5 more days of Tums and Vitamin D unless we hear otherwise.

I may have spoken too soon about her bad behavior being due to her thyroid, because she’s been driving Aliya and Adlani crazy.  We’re trying the reward system for good behavior because threats and punishments aren’t working.  This morning she was misbehaving in the car as we left for school, so I took her out of the car and told her that she’d have to stay home.  The little sh*t ran off to the back yard.  She’s fearless!  Oh well…I’m sure that will serve her well in the future.  I hope I survive it.

The Swanx

I have a new addiction.  It’s probably less expensive and causes less long-term damage than other things I could have become addicted to, but it’s impossible to hide from those around me. 

The Swanx.

In my defense, I have bad feet.  I had to wear sneakers for at least a year to get rid of the plantar fasciitis I had in both feet.  I can wear Dansko or Sanita clogs without the inserts that I have to wear with other shoes, but the typical clogs are kind of plain.  I have distressed brown clogs, black suede mary jane clogs, and patterned leather ones.  I even have a pair of wooden-soled clogs from HIGH SCHOOL!  Seriously! 

Just before my birthday I found The Swanx.  They are Sanita clogs that are handpainted with a variety of gorgeous designs.  Ben bought me a pair for my birthday and I bought myself another pair because they were being discontinued – only 48 pairs of each design are sold before they are retired.  Then they had their twice-annual sale, and I bought another pair.  So the total currently stands at 3 pairs, but my birthday pair came with a $20 coupon which I will just HAVE to use at some point.  Yesterday one of my friends’ husbands saw me wearing a pair and said, “Hey – that’s a different pair from the ones you were wearing last week, isn’t it?”  Like I said, I can’t hide it so I’m just going to be honest. 

The Swanx aren’t cheap, and they’re addicting, so be prepared when you go to their website.  They do have a “last chance” page where some designs are available at a reduced price in limited sizes.  Some of their designs are related to nursing or the medical field, because there are so many medical professionals that wear clogs.  I got lots of compliments on them when we were in the hospital last week.  The company was started by a husband and wife, when the husband wanted to help his wife (a nurse) spruce up her clogs, and the company is on track to hit $700,000 in sales in 2010.   Each pair is hand-painted by an artist, so I like to think of my addiction as supporting the art community.  I don’t feel as guilty for spending the kids’ college fund on shoes that way. 

They have great customer service too…I had to return my first two pairs because the sizes are European and I needed a different size.  They exchanged them for me even though both designs had been discontinued and my original pairs are now on the last chance page at 20% off.  If you buy a pair of Swanx, put my name in the “referred by” box and I’ll eventually earn a free pair!  I’ve got my eye on these: