All Better

I got a 45 min run in on Monday and there was no blood or pain, so the toe is all healed. It's still all scabbed over, so as long as I don't pick at it...

Some new things have developed with Megan that are making evening life much less stressful around here. No, Megan isn't talking yet. This is regarding her bed time. Awhile back, Megan started giving up her daily nap - but it wasn't 100%. Some days she would still end up getting SOO crabby or just fall asleep at random on the couch or floor. Now it seems she might have given it up for good.

So what else changed? Well, we tried to capitalize on this change of no naps. Basically it means she is very tired at a normal hour of around 8pm. We started a nightly routine of 1 or 2 movies and dinner. Then a bath and PJs. Finally story book time in her bedroom on her bed at 8pm. After reading a few books, we say good night and let her fall asleep.

First night, it was rough. Andrea got this whole ball rolling that first night, with a solid half hour of crying and Megan climbing out of bed. By the second night, it was maybe 10 minutes. By the time Saturday night rolled around (and I was home alone with Megan), she didn't even cry for 2 minutes or come out of bed. Last night was ZERO crying. I said good night, and she gave me a HUGE hug and kiss goodnight, and off she went. Tonight was just a minute or two, but in general it seems to be going very well. Perhaps another corner has been turned...

Just thought I'd end with some cute pictures of Megan and Andrea baking cookies from the other day. The second shoot is very cute, because Megan choose to arrange the cookies like that.

Day of Injuries

Today was a bit rough on the Anderson house hold. Megan was first this morning with an injury on the way home from the YMCA. She slipped and fell face first before getting into the car, cutting her upper lip badly and causing a small scratch under her chin. The worst part was the blood. In Andrea's words, "there was blood everywhere."

Speaking of blood... I was next in line. Earlier this week I had pulled out a part of my big toe nail, and thought nothing of it. It didn't hurt too much, and just bled a little bit. No big deal right? So this afternoon I head out for a run, and like 30 minutes into my run I feel this wetness in my sock. I look down, and what do I see?



And even worse....



I decide to cut my run short, and will probably take a small break from running for a few days to give my toe some time to heal. The weird part was that it didn't hurt at all while I was running. The upper part of my toe is a little tender, but that's about it.

Tomorrow Andrea is heading down to visit and spend some time with her Mom to do a project involving lots of pictures. They will also be doing lunch and Andrea is spending the night there, so it will just be me and Megan holding down the fort. I plan on getting some grocery shopping in and visiting with my Mom as well. Other then that, it should be a very mellow weekend.

Slight Slacking

Couple times last week I thought about getting something posted but just never got around to it. Main reason I think is that nothing too exciting is going on really. This cold weather just kind of grinds everything to a halt. I managed to get one run in this morning, but other then that I haven't left the house all weekend. A high temp of negative 7 yesterday!!

Not a lot of news on the Megan language front. We are starting with some sign language things, which she is picking up rather quickly. Although we tried to teach her "more" and "please" at the same time, she seems to use "please" for both now. She has also become SLIGHTLY less demanding of movie time, only wanting to watch them at night which I think might be a decent compromise. That isn't to say I've abandoned the idea of TV removal YET... Time will tell.

The gym traffic is slowing down already - maybe it's just the cold weather. But the last few nights I've been able to get in fine and right away. I think I'm going to get outside earlier this year then previous, simply because I miss it so much already.

In other news, I'm going to attempt to get some Dungeons and Dragons going again this year. I decided I needed at least one other hobby besides World of Warcraft. My guess? It might last long enough to keep me occupied through June, but I could see it falling apart through the summer. Once again, time will tell.

Stupid Resolutioners

I hate to start out with a rant, but what the hell. Once again, the people are flocking to (and filling up) the gym so that a) parking is damn near impossible and b) there are wait lines for treadmills. I didn't even feel like dealing with it tonight, and completely skipped my work out. Instead, I came home and ate 2 chocolate covered pretzels weighing in at 140 calories a piece. SUCK ON THAT, New Years Resolutioners!

I'm ready for spring, that's all I have to say. It is too damn cold and I need some out door type activities. I'd hate to admit that my mood would be so effected by weather, but who knows. I'm honestly going to give biking a bigger shot this year, with planned adventures and maybe even some crazy stuff like biking all the way to work. Hey... dream big I say.

In other news, I'm contemplating moving my ginourmous TV out of the house. This is an alternative idea to selling or getting rid of it entirely. The reactions I've gotten have been anything from "that seems extreme" to "I grew up with no TV". So why on earth would I want to get rid of one my most joyous of purchases from 2006?

There are a variety of factors... that have been building over time. Everything connected to the TV has already been moved for Megans safety. I never bought any of the new next gen gaming systems, and don't even own a high def DVD player. Not to mention, all my DVDs are in the garage anyway.

The final straw was that recently my receiver died. It had been flaking out for awhile. But why buy a new receiver, for speakers that aren't hooked up, and movies I don't watch anymore? Why keep a TV in the house that is just an empty shell?

This is of course all just secondary to the real reason I want to get rid of it. A firm belief that the TV and/or movies have played a part in Megan's delayed language development.

My Mom tells me I'm crazy to think that, and that we just need to teach Megan limits. Maybe she's right. Maybe I'm just using the TV as a scape goat for my own failings. I'm told not to be so hard on myself, but how can I not?

The small part of me that still has access to logic, dictates that Megan will grow up. She will eventually communicate with the outside world. And one day I'll look back at this time and laugh at how worried I was. But that part is so small these days, and just seems overshadowed by self doubt.

The TV as it was in it's heyday:



The empty shell of today:

Arch Support FTW

Ran a solid 6 miles tonight on the new shoes. I ended up getting the next ASICS in the line I like, the GT-2130. This pair seems to fit my foot better then the 2120s, a tad wider and not so tight over the top. They were great right off the bat, hardly feels like I have to break them in. Over the last 2 months I was having a lot of soreness in the arch of my foot, and tonight there was none. Lesson learned? When the arch starts to get sore, get new shoes!

I'm not quite sure why I thought things would "slow down" at work. It just feels like they want to suck the marrow from me until I'm dry. It's hard to stay motivated, but at least I enjoy what I'm doing and like the people I work with. Review time is right around the corner, so that is the only thing I'm kinda stressing about. Not so much that I'm worried about my review, but more so that for the first time in awhile, I feel like I deserve a specific review. And if it doesn't happen, I'm going to be very disappointed and most likely be very vocal about it.

Tonight was a pretty mild night, with Megan and I enjoying some time together while Andrea went to her volleyball game. I was able to capture a fun little video of Megan's basketball skills. This is something I had been wanting to buy for her for a long time, but she ended up getting it for Christmas instead. It's definitely one of her favs.

Better Update

Taking Monday off was exactly the right decision. The funny part was, the day itself was very stressful. Megan was very unhappy and not cool with napping when she should, and ended up having a melt down. This of course caused me to have a melt down. Thankfully, Andrea remained the rock solid parent she is and calmed us all down.

On the positive side, I've gotten two runs in the last two days and that has made me feel better. My cold is still full blown, but hopefully it will start to wane towards the end of this week. I'm going to try and get two more runs in before the weekend and see how it goes.

Work started good today with "no new problems" to deal with, so that was nice. The end is in sight and I can look forward to getting this project out. I'll probably never get much credit or fanfare for my work on this project, but it will be a big personal victory to see this one succeed. Whether or not the customers think it's a "great" thing is yet to be determined.

On another up note, my bro has offered to watch Megan tomorrow night. I think we will take the opportunity to hit a dinner and just relax. I'll probably stop off at the Running Store and get some new shoes. I think some recent foot pains I've been having can be attributed to worn out shoes. Plus, I need to break in a new pair to start working on my 2008 running goals. (more on that later)

Anyway, today was yet another "No nap for Megan" day, so I have to go do my best to help keep her awake as long as possible. If she falls asleep too early, it just causes her to wake up crying around midnight, or even the possibility of her coming out of her room.

Bad Start

2008 isn't starting off exactly as I had hoped, but pretty much exactly as I expected. Over stressed, under exercised, sick and lazy!

The long New Years break was great, because although Christmas break was 4 days, it didn't even feel like an actual break. New Years weekend was much more relaxing. My Mom even offered (for the 2nd time) to watch Megan over night on New Years Eve. We totally took her up on it, and managed to get in a dinner/movie date.

The bad started with going back to work. Not that work itself was that bad, but we are STILL at the end of this project cycle causing me undue stress and getting me into situations where I have to work until 5:30pm. This of course cuts into my running time. Now combine that with a really nasty cold I started getting this week, and you have a recipe for disaster. I haven't run this year at all!

Could I run through this cold? Ya, probably. I've done it before. Do I feel like it? Not really. I feel like being lazy and getting better. Sleeping in, resting, and taking lots of drugs. I'll probably call in sick tomorrow and if I'm feeling up to it, get a run in then.

In the meantime, I thought I'd get a picture up of Megan. This one is for you Mom!