Taking A Pit Stop

Warning:  What I am about to type may be considered whiney, but I will get to a point-I promise!

I have not felt like myself for probably over a month now.  I have been under quite a bit of work-related stress for several months, and it has started to take its toll on me.  Then when my hubby left for the missions trip to Haiti corresponding with the start of back-to-school and some other issues, I went into stress overload.  The stress has caused me anxiety-and I combated that by listening to praise and worship music to keep my mind focused on the good rather than the bad and by eliminating coffee and soda from my diet (which tends to increase anxiety).  Then, one day a couple weeks ago, I had been noticing that I had been extremely thirsty and was drinking probably 2 gallons of water a day (typical for me is only about 20 ounces), and my body was itchy all over.

I did what I always do when I have symptoms pop up:  I googled it.  And I saw the one word that I had long forgotten:  eczema.  I had it in high school, but it seemed to have disappeared.  The more I read, the more that I have become convinced it must be eczema: it tends to occur when the seasons change (yup-we have been having some cooler weather the past week or so), is brought on by stress (double-yup), and pushing yourself extremely hard during exercise aggravates it as well (guilty as charged).  I tend to take hot showers on days I don’t exercise, and that is another culprit.

So I did what I knew to do:  using lotion, trying (normally unsuccessfully) not to scratch, and taking Benadryl.  I am one of those people that usually hates to take medicine, so on the rare occasion I convince myself to take it, my body is not used to it, and has a more severe reaction to it than those more accustomed to it.  So when I took the Benadryl, it caused me to become extremely tired (I blogged about the fog I have felt like I have been in the other day).  After I had enough of the exhaustion (so much, in fact, that I had to get a ride home from work one day because I didn’t feel alert enough to make my commute), I decided that I would drink coffee.  Well, the coffee did what it does-it stirred up more anxiety in me.  Are you starting to see the vicious cycle?

So, I have decided that enough is enough!  It’s time for a pit stop to get life back in control!  I have not gone on a run since Sunday, so as not to push myself too hard.  (As soon as symptoms go away, I will resume where I was at.) And in order to avoid the caffeine, I am not taking any more Benadryl (unless there is a day that I will be at the house and taking a nap is not an issue).  It has been out of my system for 24 hours now.  I took a cool shower, and used lotion to keep the itching at bay as best as I can-I plan to purchase to good lotion tonight when I get off work.  Thankfully, my itchy-factor seems to be reasonable considering no Benadryl so far.  The tiredness has mostly worn off, and my anxiety seems to be under control!  So thankful God gave me the presence of mind to take a pit stop-and praying He helps me stick with it!

Being Who You Are

Today I attended a chapel service, and Amy Farley (who is organizing the 5K I am running in October), a missionary to Africa, spoke on being who you are.  Her main scripture was 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, with emphasis on the "My grace is enough."

Amy took a moment and shared two stories with us about how she sometimes feels inadequate in what she is called to do.  I think sometimes as Christians we think we have to be perfect, and admitting our weaknesses and struggles makes it seem like we are not good enough.  It was a nice change of pace to see someone who could be transparent in her weakness, and to see how she could still overcome despite that.  She said that God uses us not just inspite of our weaknesses, but also because of our weaknesses.  She emphasized several times that the devil is a liar, and we have to choose not to believe what he says about us.  She followed up with Matthew 23:12:  "But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty."

Don't let the enemy convince you of his lies.  Believe what God says about you.  Be yourself.

Amy in Senegal:

Fog

After nearly a week of being itchy all over (I believe due to eczema), and taking benadryl somewhat regularly during that time, I feel like I have been in a fog most of the day.  I'm having trouble concentrating, and I'm moving very slowly.  I feel like I am in a fog.  I can't wait until my doctor appointment Friday!

Labor Day Feast

I cannot for the life of me figure out what I was (or rather, wasn't) thinking today.  How could I have enjoyed such a delicious meal, but not taken any pictures?  Maybe I am just delirious because we had temps in the 60's and 70's all morning for the first time since-well-maybe May?  It's Labor Day, so we have the day off from work, and the boys have the day off from school.  Plus my in-laws came to visit for a few days.  And to top that off, the weather outside today is uh-may-zing-how could we not use the new smoker?

My hubby started last night on the ribs-getting the "rib rub" together and letting it brine.  He got up early this morning to slow-smoke them.  The scent of smoke and ribs tormented me all morning, and I was good and hungry by the time lunch came around.  To keep my mind occupied while he was working on the ribs, I made another batch of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted.  By the time I finished that up, he came in and made his coleslaw, potato salad, and threw some fresh corn on the cob on the grill.

I'm still kicking myself for not having taken a picture of my plate-but, alas, it is gone now!  I did manage to take one (bad) picture while he was checking the temperature of the meat in the smoker.  Such a great day!  And now, after that feast, it is without a doubt, time for a nap!  Happy Labor Day!

Out Of Darkness...

Today between first and second service at church, the power went out.  (We found out later that there had been a collision that caused the outage).  It stayed out about an hour, but we made do.  When the lights came back on, it reminded me of the verse in 1 Peter 2:  "...that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

I'm so thankful for the reminder that He brought me out of a dark place, and into His arms, to declare Him holy, and worthy of praise.  He has given us so many blessings, much more than we deserve!

Our praise and worship sans electricity:

Madea's Big Happy Family

Last night we watched Tyler Perry's movie Madea's Big Happy Family.  What I like best about the Madea movies is that they are so funny, but usually have a good theme to them, too.  In this movie, a mother named Shirley finds out she has only a short time to live, and she tries to get all of her grown children together as a family so she can tell them the news.  This proves to be a difficult task, as each of her children have their own issues they are dealing with.  Madea steps in to help Shirley get the family together.

My favorite line in the movie was towards the very beginning.  Shirley is given the bad news from her doctor, and her response to him is this:  "Everyday that God gives us is a gift.  And when He stops giving it to me, I get to be with Him."  Granted this is a movie, but what a lesson to us all in how to react when tests and trials come our way!

It was a great movie, but did have some language.  Here is the movie trailer:

What Was I Thinking?!?

I have been overly tired for one too many days.  In addition, and for no reason I can understand, I have been dealing with severe itchiness in a few localized areas for about 3 days that has been driving me insane!  So when I woke up this morning, still feeling not-so-great, I just went back to sleep, not wanting to deal with either issue.  I finally got up and moving around 10:00, and took an allergy pill (which I know makes me tired, but I just couldn't deal with the itchiness anymore).  At that point I remembered something very important:  Today marks the beginning of Week 8 of Couch to 5K.  Might as well go for a run right?

So I decided to go for my run despite:  1-being tired, 2-having taken a pill which makes me even more tired, 3-it was already over 90 degrees outside, and 4-it being the day to add an additional .25 miles to my run.  Needless to say, it certainly was not the best run I have ever had.  Far from it, in fact.  I never take water with me on my runs, mostly because when I drink on my run, it tends to give me stomach cramps.  I decided that today needed to be an exception because of how hot it was, the fact that no ones sprinkler systems would be running (which I normally run through to cool off), and because I have been extremely thirsty the past few days.  The water turned out to be a lifesaver!  While I knew I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I have the past few runs, I was pushing myself as hard as I could today.  The sun was beating down on me, which I am not used to, and I poured a great deal of the water on my head to keep me cool.  I did drink a small amount of water, too, and I ended up getting stomach cramps the last .25 miles, but that was a small price to pay for being able to quench my thirst.

I pushed myself so hard I began to cry during my last half mile-in all my running in the past, I have never pushed myself hard enough to cry.  Crazy!  But I was determined that today was Day 1 of Week 8-and I was supposed to run 2.75 miles with no walking, and I was not going to let a few circumstances stop me from that.  Yes, I know I can be stubborn at times.  It will probably be the death of me.  If I was not already worn out, the run took the last little bit of energy I had left in me.  It took me 39:34 to complete my 2.75 miles, which, if my math is correct (for some reason, I am not certain it is today), that is a 14:23 per mile pace.  Certainly not my best run pace, but compared to two weeks ago, it is still a major improvement, and I will gladly accept it for the way I felt during my run.

My lifesaver today: