A Little Hard Work Goes A Long Way!

Academic achievement is extremely important to me.  Since my children were very young, I encouraged and emphasized how much a priority education is to me.   I don’t demand straight As, but I do expect 100 percent effort and focus on academics.

In a parent-teacher conference in October, I was notified that Mia was at risk for being retained.  It was very disheartening news, but it made me more determined to help her.  My daughter would not be held back without a fight from me.  I really believe that a child cannot succeed without the collaborative support from teachers, parents, and family.  The last two months, Mia has been tutored by me, her brothers, her aunt, and her cousins. With all this extra effort, she has shown tremendous growth as shown in the October, November and December test scores below.

See the dramatic improvement in two months? She went from a 62/61 percent (almost failing) to 77 percent (strong solid C)

She was nominated by her teacher and principal to be recognized at the Fountain Valley School District Board Meeting on January 9, 2014.  This is a huge achievement, because it is not just at the school.  It is a bigger recognition with the school district. She was the only first grader in her school to get this recognition.  They called her up and spoke about her achievement and efforts for about one minute before she was given a certificate.  Every FVSD Board Member than shook her hand.



The audience in the Board Room

Board Members shaking and congratulating students.

I am so proud of her, but I am also proud of my two sons, who are a huge contributors to Mia’s success.  Mia would not have been able to do this without her brothers' help.

The team!

I acknowledge that I am a bit of a psycho mom.  I don’t expect the school to take all the responsibility in my daughter’s academic success.  I am very engaged. When they tell me she is not passing some Dibels test, guess what I do? I go on line, find out about the test, print out sample tests.  I’m very proactive and aggressive.  During the Thanksgiving break when everyone was just enjoying the time off, Mia was pulled aside three times a day for 20 minutes each to study.  Occasionally she complained, but she always did what she needed to do.

Her days consist of working with her brother, cousin, and aunt immediately after school.  She then plays and comes home for dinner. After dinner, it is her turn again to work with me so during the weekdays, it is twice a day.  On the weekends, she is pulled aside three times a day (morning, afternoon, and night). All of this has made a difference.

To celebrate this achievement, I am taking Mia, Brandon, Sienna to Build A Bear workshop because they all worked so hard.  It was a team effort, and I’m proud of them all.

Nine Weeks to Redemption

It is week nine of my 18-week training program for the March 9, 2014 Los Angeles Marathon.  I am in the middle of my training with the marathon approximately nine weeks away.  The most mileage I have done in one run is 19 miles with this upcoming Saturday morning’s run to be 21 miles.  My training basically peaks at 21 miles and then slowly descends until race day.  I think I run 21 miles three times in the 18 weeks.

Marathon training is not new to me. I would not go as far as saying I’m an experienced marathon runner, because I am not, but I have completed one marathon before, and I trained for it.  In fact, I over trained causing some knee damage.  Though the doctors attest there is no damage, I can feel a difference between my left and right knee.  I run cautiously with fear that its going to give out before I can cross the finish line. 

 

I ran the March 20, 2011 LA Marathon in a disappointing time of 6:10.  In fact, I cannot accurately say that I ran it.  I ran 3 of the 26.2 miles and I walked 23.2 miles.  If you look at my three-year running career, the LA Marathon is by far my most proudest accomplishment.  It is not just because of the distance.  It is because I completed this race in the worst possible conditions. I had a bad knee that prevented me from running.  If I wanted to cross the finish line, the only way I could achieve that would be to walk across, which is what I did.  Moreover, the weather that day was HORRID. Thunderstorms, lightning, rain downpour, and cold.  I hid in a stinky port-o-potty, because the weather was so horrible.  I also started my period at mile 1.  When I did finally cross the finish line, my teeth were chattering and I ran into a building to stay warm. 

What made the finish line so unique for the 2011 LA Marathon was that there were no crowds celebrating the huge achievements.  Runners ran into any opened building to get out of the storm.  Many suffered from hypothermia.  No exaggeration.  It would not have been that bad but I was out in that rain for over 6 hours.

At the Los Angeles Marathon Expo

Lance and I at the expo.  No one knew it, but we were married.  This was the day immediately following our marriage ceremony at the courthouse.

Skyline view of L.A.

at the start line with Jorge and Raul.  It was dark and the storm was about to come in.



I don't know if you can tell how horrible the weather was from this photo. Do you see how wet my clothes are? That is not from sweat because I was walking...downpour of thunderstorms

Walking across the finish line.  FINALLY

Three years later, I am determined to complete another marathon, but this time, my goal is to be able to run, and honestly, I would like to get under 5 hours.  I want to redeem myself.  I want to be able to run it.

I don’t enjoy the training, and I’m disappointed that my workouts are devoted exclusively to running.  I’ve lost a lot of strength because all I do now is run, run, run.  My long distance runs take place on Saturday morning, and it is very difficult to try to balance the demands and responsibilities of being a wife/mother to my own individual goals/desires.  I have to run early in the morning  because it is time consuming and  I need to be back home to assume my role as wife/mother, but honestly, when I am back from that long distance day, I am useless.  I function fine, but my legs are like heavy weights.  I recover easily and quickly because the next day, I go for a short recovery run, and I feel simply good.

 

The difference in my training this year compared to the 2011 race is that I’ve done all of my long distance runs outside.  In 2011, I was solely a treadmill runner.  Running outside now presents problems because it is winter and daylight is limited. I do not feel safe running in the dark.  I also try to avoid concrete because of how hard it is on your knees so my main path is along the Santa Ana River Trail, but it is a trail blocked off by fences on both side so if someone wanted to attack me, I would be defenseless with no escape. 

I am also training smarter this year.  I stretch.  I use the foam roller to continually massage out my IT band.  During the long distance runs, I stop to stretch my IT band.  This is all in an attempt to limit injury, specifically knee injury.  I have learned that my previous knee problem was due to a result of my IT band.  When I first began doing the foam roller, I could barely massage over the band without feeling excruciating pain.  Now though, it does not hurt. 

When I did the 19 miles, my Nike GPS stated I completed it in 3:19, which is a good time, but in all honesty, a more accurate time would have been 3:35.  I took restroom breaks.  I refilled my water container along the beach.  I stretched.  Each time I did one of these things, I stopped the watch.  I think, if this remains an accurate indicator of how well I perform on race day, I should easily be able to accomplish my goal of running in a sub 5 hour time.

I know many do not comprehend why I would put my body through weeks of grueling training.  It just can’t be good for me, but I disagree.  I would like to share this blog about running. 

http://www.shutupandrun.net/2012/06/top-3-reasons-running-is-bad-for-you-or.html

Running has given me confidence, an abundance of energy, and the empowerment and faith that I can do anything.  I am never tired.  I never feel defeated, and I have the most positive outlook on life.  I truly feel like I can do ANYTHING.

Once the LA Marathon is completed, what are my next fitness goals?  Will I be a regular marathon runner? I don’t think so.  I’ll go back to my occasional half marathons, and I want to resume my Tabata training.  I enjoyed seeing my strength increase with my push ups, planks, squats etc.

Nine weeks and counting…..2014 LA Marathon will be my time for redemption. 

(I will add though the 2011 LA Marathon will always hold special meaning to me and not because it was my first, but because I had married Lance that weekend. I crossed that finish line as a newlywed of less than 2 days.)

Bella's Psychiatrist

 

I think it is more than coincidental that Lance and I adopted two special needs dogs.  One had a physical injury, but with a costly $4000+ surgery, we were able to give our boy relief.  As sweet as Buddy may be, he is also not the brightest tool in the shed.  He is lovable, but a little dense.  Bella, on the other hand, is incredibly bright.  I have owned dogs my entire adult life, and Bella’s intelligence is noticeably different and advanced.  I think this does her a service and disservice because with intelligence comes a keen and at times slightly dysfunctional sensitivity.

 

We adopted her on August 10, 2011, and she was the perfect dog.  She was extremely fit and completely trained.  As time progressed, she gained weight, which we all know is due to her Daddy’s overfeeding her.  He spoils her.  She also regressed and almost daily pees and poops in the house. It began with occasional accidents to more reoccurring to basically a daily habit.  It also started with just urine, but then progressed to feces.  It became a huge contributor to Lance’s stress and frustration as he was the one who cleaned it up regularly.  We purchased a 500 dollar industrial carpet cleaner, and regardless of how efficient this cleaner was or is, it could never remove the odor of the urine.  We could not sit in the living room because the smell would be unbearable.  We religiously burned candles in our unsuccessful efforts to obliterate the smell.  There were times that Lance would punish Bella because he could not handle it anymore.  He asked me once, “how can you remain so calm?”  I told him, “Because I know it is not her fault. She is suffering terribly.”  Bella is a special needs dog.  She has psychological problems.  You can easily observe her suffering, and it is painful to watch.   

 

We finally took Bella to see an animal behaviorist.  Seriously, this is a term for psychiatrist.  There are only 50 animal behaviorist in the country.  It is a specialty, and it cost a sh*tload of money.  No, Dr. Schwartz did not talk to Bella if that is what you are thinking.  She spent two hours observing Bella and asking us in-depth questions about her behavior, routine, etc.  It was intense.

Ok, so here is the hilarious part.  This is something out of a comedy film.  We sat in her office, and it looked like a typical psychiatric office.  Ten minutes into the appointment, a loud fart echoes in the room. Dr. Schwartz immediately responds, “excuse me.”  I felt embarrassed that our Bella would fart like that, but hey….Dr. Schwartz works with animals, and I’m sure she is accustomed to dog farts.  Did you know labs are notoriously known for farting? Google it.   Anyway, five minutes pass and then again, another fart.  I hear Dr. Schwartz say excuse me again.  I then realized that this was not Bella farting at all.  It was the doctor.  I looked at her face, and it was completely focused on the business at hand, which was extracting information from us about Bella.   So the appointment continued for two hours, and Dr. Schwartz entertained Lance and I for the entire two hours with an orchestra of farts.  Seriously, she farted about 15 times during that entire two-hour session.  It did not interrupt the session.  She continued as if this was a normal thing for her.  It was not even awkward.  It was if she was coughing, something very normal.  Finally, Bella farted, and Dr. Schwartz looks at us with concern and asks, “Do you think she needs to go to the bathroom?” Lance and I were dumbfounded.  Maybe the doctor had to go?  I think that would have been a more suitable question.

Ok, back to the seriousness of the situation.  Dr. Schwartz was good. She was amazingly good at her job.  She was very thorough, sensitive, and provided us with an abundance of useful information.  Dr. Schwartz said, “you inherited a disturbed animal.”  The diagnosis? Bella has separation anxiety, general anxiety, possible PTSD, claustrophobia, and compulsive disorder.  None of this surprised either of us.  Bella is going to be placed on Prozac and Xanax.  She also needs to lose weight, increase her exercise. She also needs structure to help with the anxiety. She needs to be trained the five basic commands. She needs to be walked on a short leash.

I know most people think we are crazy, but Bella is disturbed.  She shakes uncontrollably.  She has this depressed look on her face every time Lance leaves her or if she is left alone.  She has hurt herself.  She needs help, and we love her dearly.  She has been good to us and for us.  As strangely as this may sound, she is fits in our family.  Bella belongs with us.  I hope we can relieve some of her suffering.  We love that dog with all our hearts.

2013 Recap

Here is our recap of 2013…our good, our bad, our accomplishments, our disappointments, our lives in 2013.

January

v  lost my dearest friend Sherry Wendt

v  traveled to Miami and the Florida Keys to run one of our best Ragnar Relays.  Got to eat alligator meat.

v  traveled to Phoenix, Arizona and got to see our daughter and family and run the Arizona Rock and Roll Half Marathon

v  ran a 5k on January 1 as part of the Commitment Day initiative

Sherry Ann Wendt

January 1, 2013

 

In South Beach, Florida and the Everglades

Florida Keys

 

Phoenix, Arizona for the Half Marathon
 

 

February

v  ran the Surf City Half Marathon with my brother Leroy and Dylan

v  Brandon celebrated his 8^th birthday at the reptile zoo

 

Surf City Half Marathon

 March

v  said goodbye to my insane boss, Will Kempton.  He is a great man and friend, but he is high maintenance as a boss

v  Got a new boss who has been very easy to work for

v  Brandon started his second season of baseball on the Dodgers

v  Ran the San Diego Half Marathon

v  Mia had her 6^th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese

v  Mia starts gymnastics

v  Attended our first pro basketball game, Clippers vs OKC Thunder

 

my old boss, Will Kempton

 

Brandon running home

 

 

at the Staples Center for our first game

April

v  Had my first colonoscopy and got diagnosed with Crohn’s Colitis

v  Stayed in the haunted room 928 at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood and ran the Hollywood Half Marathon

 

May

v  Ran the OC half Marathon with Dylan

 

June

v  Dylan had his 8^th grade promotion ceremony

v  We got a portable basketball hoop

v  Joe came home after serving in the Navy for 8 years

v  Ran the Rock and Roll San Diego Half Marathon

v  Lance bought a 2013 Dodge Ram truck and gave his old truck to Joe.

 

 

July

v  Took a two-week honeymoon to Eastern Europe (Prague, Krakow, Vienna, Budapest)

v  My dad was diagnosed with cirrhosis

v  Traveled to El Paso, Texas to see my dad seven days after returning from Europe

v  Ran the Ventura Half Marathon four days after returning from Europe

 

 

August

v  Lance celebrated his 55^th birthday

v  Had a family reunion

v  Ran the San Diego Half Marathon, completing my goal of running 12 half marathons in a year

v  Started my health kick and went from 128 pounds to 116

 



San Diego Half Marathon and me so fat!

 

September

v  Karmen, Joe’s soon to be finance, comes to California

v  Lance attended his annual hunting trip

v  Dylan started school and joined the cross country team

v  Brandon started flag football and Mia started her first season of softball

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October

v  Traveled to San Marcos, Texas to attend Lance’s high school reunion and got to see Susan again

v  Buddy had TLPO surgery

v  Completed the Long Beach Half Marathon with Dylan and friends. Dylan got a PR at 2:07 and received the Beach Cities Medal

 

San Marcos Academy High School Reunion

Long Beach Half Marathon

 

 

November

v  Celebrated my 42^nd birthday

v  Completed a Ragnar Trail run in Lake Vail

v  Traveled to El Paso, Texas to spend Thanksgiving with my family

v  Bought a 16 ft dinghy, the Gryphon

v  Lance installed a functioning bathroom on Tide the Knott

v  Joe got engaged to Karmen

 

The Gryphon

42nd Birthday

 

Ragnar Relay Trail Race

 

Completed operating bathroom

 

December

v  Celebrated Christmas with the family