My Nightmare

Growing up with asthma was never an easy thing. Years of medicine, allergies to all kinds of yummy foods, having to leave friends houses early because of an attack, nights of sitting outside in the fresh air trying to get a good breath, and even sleeping on a cot in the kitchen because it was the one room in the house with the least allergens. After having kids of my own, one of my nightmares has been that I would that one of the boys would get asthma. I know it was hard for my parents watching me go through some of the hard days, and I was just hoping I would not ever have to really know how that felt.

Well, I got a taste of these feelings these past few days. Zachary has had a cold, which turned in to a cough, which turned into him struggling for air. We brought him to the urgent care on Thursday evening and the doctor right away gave him a steroid shot and started him on a breathing treatment. The smell of the treatment brought back all kinds of memories. I just wished I could take it all back on me rather than watch Zachie struggle. Thankfully the treatment helped and we were sent home with medicine. They didn't call it asthma, but rather a restricted airway due to the cold and cough. All the same, it looked and felt like it to me and chances are that Zach will have trouble with this in the future too.

A follow up trip to the doctor showed that Zach's lungs were still congested and they gave him two more treatments and we were sent home with a nebulizer to use over the weekend. Good news is that the combination of treatments and other medicines have started making him feel better. He'll have another follow up on Monday and hopefully he'll be completely better by then!

It's a hard thing being a parent. All the joys and sorrows are multiplied by 1000's when you are watching your own son or daughter!

Weight Loss Wednesday

So I'm joining a friend of mine in the never ending quest to lose some weight. She just had a baby 3 weeks ago and is already trying to lose her baby weight.....I on the other hand think I can no longer use my "baby weight" as an excuse. That picture of me above was with Zachary, about five and a half years ago. Yet, those last 10-15 pounds just keep hanging on.

Here's my plan. Hold on to your hats....eat right and exercise! Wild concept, I know, but I've learned from Garrett that it works. I already know that I do a pretty good job with the exercise, so that leaves the eating right part. One main thing that I'll be trying to do is make sure I eat a good lunch. For the past year, my schedule at work has been MWF and I wouldn't get to eat lunch until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I would eat some snacks at work but come home feeling starved and eat everything I could find. Thankfully, this year my schedule allows me to eat lunch at a regular time and I think this will help. I'm trying to add more salads into my day, either lunch or dinner. And lastly, cutting out the snacks that I tend to eat when I am trying to keep myself awake in the afternoon while helping Kevin with his homework.

I'll be checking in each Wednesday to update my progress. I have yet to weigh myself, but I already know that I would like to lose at least 10 pounds and have my clothes fit better. Maybe I can go on a shopping spree for my birthday in October!

A New School Year

Wednesday was a big day in the Riley house. Kevin started 3rd grade and Zach started Kindergarten! Both boys were excited. I bought them both alarm clocks and Kevin set his for 6:00 (without me knowing). He was up and dressed before I was even out of bed. Zach did great, going right into his classroom, hanging up his backpack, and blowing me a kiss goodbye. Kevin's now an old pro at this school stuff and had no problem finding his line that morning. It's so exciting, and a little heartbreaking, to see the boys growing up!

Mt. Whitney

We did it! What an amazing experience. It all started at 1:50 a.m. when my alarm went off. I took a quick shower to wake up and I immediately felt excited and anxious. We were out the door at 2:20 and on the trail at 3:15. I had brought my watch but purposely tried not to continually look at it because I didn't want to know that I'd only been going an hour if it felt like forever. Here are the highlights that come to mind....

*I loved starting in the dark. My sense of hearing was heightened because I could see as well, so I enjoyed the sounds of water flowing along a creek or rushing down a waterfall.

*I loved watching the sun coming up. It was so beautiful and made me think I need to get up early more often and watch more sunrises!

* I loved the camaraderie and how encouraging everyone was to one another.

* I loved the view from the trail crest where you can first see down into both Kings Canyon and Owens Valley. We had an amazingly clear day and could see for miles and miles.

*I loved Matt's idea of letting Denise lead us up to the summit at the end and the sense of accomplishment that occurred when we made it.

*I loved the view from the top where I could look around 360 degrees and know that I was at the highest point in the continental U.S.

* I loved looking back up when we were half way down and thinking, "Was I really just up there??"

*I loved seeing all the beautiful areas that we were not able to see in the dark. Wildflowers, waterfalls, meadows, all just beautiful.

* I LOVED finally making it down and going back to take a shower!

Of course I didn't love every moment of it, but focusing on the positive is what got me through. It was an extremely long, emotional, triumphant day. When asked if I would do it again my answer was, without skipping a beat, YES!

And, here's is what I unpacked out of our backpacks when we got home today.... No wonder my shoulders were sore, I was carrier about 5 pounds of unnecessary food!