10K

So I decided last minute literally since the race was on Saturday and registered Friday night to do a 10K (6.2 miles).  Crazy huh?  What was I thinking?  As my husband drove there I kept asking him which one I should do.  He told me to do the one I felt comfortable with and like I new which one that would be.   So he drops me off because parking was crazy since last minute people were registering and everyone else who already registered and was picking up their packets.  So I go fill out my application and it gets down to the part of which race I want to do. You have the choice of the 10K or the 5K and  I'm still not sure, but I selected the 10K.  I get back in the car after I pick up everything.  My husband asks which one did I register for? I replied with 10K.  He said you can do it!  He is so supportive of me.

So now it's race day.  Not like it was that far off since I only registered the last minute.  I'm nervous of course.  I'm by myself because the rest of my family was busy with something so they couldn't be there to cheer me on.  :(    I drive to the location of the race which is about 30 minutes from my house.  I'm eating on my peanut butter toast gradually while getting there.  So I get there early since some of the streets were going to be closed as well for the race and they also had a parade.  I get out of my car and start heading towards the start line which was about 6 or so blocks away. The 10K was starting at 9:25 a.m.  It's getting close to the start time.  Nerves are taking over me.  Why in the world would I sign up last minute?  I'm stretched or what I think is good.  I get my music ready on my ipod that my amazing husband stayed up late the night before downloading songs.  The race as now started and I'm at the back because no way was I getting up there at the front.

I ran well, but was getting tired around 3.5 miles.  I can't believe I'm doing this to myself.  Just stay positive and have fun.  So my chip time was 1:14:44.  I was upset, but so glad it was over.  I knew I could have done better and I knew where I slacked off during the race.  Why was I beating myself up over this time?  I should be felling great.  I haven't even trained for this race.  In fact I haven't ran 6.2 miles since 2010.  I had only ran with a friend 3 miles about a month ago.  I guess I shouldn't be upset with my time, but I was.  It is hard to run a race for 6 miles with no training.  My husband says it's the competitiveness inside me.  haha 

I guess next time I will train, but can't guarantee it. 

A Chic Mommy

Rain

This past year Houston really needed the rain, but lately it seems like it is raining all the time.  Mommy and the kids hate it because they don't get to go outside to play.  I feel like we are in a prison or a small confined area since we have been staying inside a lot lately.  I guess it's going to be a craft kind of day.  Recently I came across a website called, "Pinterest".  This site is amazing and very addicting.  I've found great ideas on there to do with the kids.  I guess I need to go look at it and decide on what we are going to do today.

A Chic Mommy

Paper plates

The other day I was at the grocery store getting a few items because we were going to have our neighbors come by for dinner.  I thought about getting paper plates since they would be easier for clean up.  I usually by the name brand since they are stronger, etc.  This time I went with the store brand which was Kroger.  On the package it says, Nice'n Strong Designer Plates.  They are microwaveable and soak resistant.  Personally, I do not like these plates. It states that they are soak resistant, but it felt like the plate was about to bust apart due to the bottom being not sturdy.  I felt like when my spaghetti was on the plate, I was scraping the bottom along with it. I do not like that feeling.  On the back of the package it states, Microwave Usage:  Recommended only for limited use in re-heating food.  I felt like the limited use it was stating was talking about only 10 or so seconds.  That is not re-heating to me since I needed to heat up my previous dinner for lunch the next day.  On the back of the package, it says Quality Guaranteed. I will be calling today since I'm not satisfied.  Note to self is that I will buy the name brands next time since I like their products of being sturdy.

A Chic Mommy 

Viral Pneumonia

So last week my youngest son started to have a runny nose and started coughing.  The boys get like this every time the weather changes it seems.  Here in Houston, it has been raining a lot lately which we need.  So I started giving my son treatments everyday to help break up the mucus.  As of Friday morning, his chest was beating so fast.  It looked like you could see his heart beating on the outside of his skin because it was so rapid.  It scared me to death.  I called his doctor to see if I could get an appointment.  The nurse told me to go ahead and bring him in.  Thank goodness I was telling myself.  So I got myself and my younger son ready and headed up to the doctor's office. 

You can tell the crud was going around because all the little kids were all coughing and looked so helpless.  We didn't wait long till they called us back which was a relief.  Sometimes you have an appointment and it seems like your there for an hour before you even get called.  This was not the case this day.  So they weighed him, measured his height, and took his temperature (which was around 101) before we went back to the room.  The nurse asked what brought us in today and I explained what was going on.   So we waited for the doctor to come in.  At this time, his heart beats had slowed down then when it was beating so fast at our house.  The doctor came in and started checking him out.  First off the bat, she stated he had double ear infections in both ears.  I felt so bad.  Then she listened to him breathe.  She didn't like the way he sounded and said he was wheezing.  She wanted to test his blood so he had to get a finger prick.  He thought that wasn't to bad.  The blood work came good.  She then told me that she would like for him to get a chest x-ray at the hospital next door.  While she was getting the paperwork together, she said she wanted to him a steroid shot in his leg before he left.  This was not going to be fun since I hate needles.  The nurse came in with the shot, etc.  I immediately can't look at them and hold his hands while almost laying on him to hold him down.  The nurse told me she was ready and I was trying to talk to him to hold my hands tight.  I mean telling a 3 yr. old to hold my hands tight, well poor baby tried.  The nurse stuck the shot in this leg and boy did he scream.  He did not like that at all and I didn't either.  My poor baby was in pain.  After we stayed there a little bit to make sure he didn't have a reaction I got him ready to leave.  She wanted us to also come back the next day to see him again and check him out.  She stated she wanted me to give him 4 treatments a day and then gradually decrease it.  Wow, that seemed a lot to me. She had also mentioned that we as parents don't like to give that much treatments so we usually only give them one like I had done.  She said anytime he starts to cough, etc to start giving him 4 treatments daily.  I thought the treatments were for only wheezing, but I guess not. 

So we went next door to get a chest x-ray.  While waiting in the waiting room, he stated he wanted to call his Meme (which is my mom).  I had already been texting her the whole morning keeping her informed.  He kept telling her that he was not sick.  It was cute and the other patients waiting started smiling at him.    He did great because the x-ray tech explained to him what was happening and they were going to take a picture of him.  He liked that and he liked that we were able to go home now.

We go home and just sit back and wait for the doctor to call back for his results.  Later that evening the phone rings from the doctors office.  The nurse tells me that he has Viral Pneumonia and to follow up in the morning.  Great, I was thinking. Poor little guy and I had no idea it was this bad.  I felt really bad now.  The rest of the night I just wanted to cuddle with him and let him know it was okay. 

We follow up the next morning and doctor still says he wheezing.  She also wants to give him another shot in his leg.  Please no!! Here we go again with the screaming, etc.  This poor little guy is not going to come back with me to the doctor anymore if this keeps happening. 

I could tell his medicine was making him tired.  One of the medicines was so bad that he didn't want to take it.  I don't blame him because I hate taking medicine as well unless it was flavored and chewable.  I still to this day hate to swallow those big pills when I get sick.  Yuck!  This past week he missed a classmates birthday party and running around, but I took the gift up there because we had already RSVP.  I told his teachers to watch him if they were going outside because I didn't want him running around.  I definitely knew he didn't feel well all week long because he asked to lay down.  After his treatments, he would be sitting on the couch and the next thing you know he was out.  This was not like him at all because he loves playing with his brother. I just wish he would get better.  This morning it is raining again and supposed to bring a cold front behind it.  Stop with all this wishy washy weather for my little man to get better.

A Chic Mommy

Neighbors

So this past weekend was gorgeous here in Texas. My boys played outside and my husband and I were supposed to work in the yard. That didn't happen on Saturday. We we're down the street talking to some neighbors outside. One neighbor who we have not met yet since we have only been here since June came down and talked to us. He said he had extra mulch and if we wanted some, we are more then happy to get it because it was on his driveway. What a nice guy. His mulch ended up helping three different neighbors. My husband didn't want to take it all because others wanted some. This neighbor lent us his wheelbarrow to help carry it all. It was funny seeing the men pushing the wheelbarrow down the street about 4-6 houses down while the women just stood there chatting and watching the kids play in the street. It was nice to have grown-up conversation. :) The neighbor ended up giving the men a beer to drink, a wheelbarrow to use and free mulch. That is a good neighbor. It was great seeing everyone outside and getting to know each other. It finally got to cold to stay out there any longer so everyone went home. I mean we only stayed outside talking for about three or four hours.

On Sunday, I woke up early to work in the yard since it didn't get done on Saturday. It was nice working while everyone else slept. I usually don't like to pull weeds, but actually enjoyed it because I saw it coming together to look nicer. I love to mow and that sounds crazy, but my husband did the rest of the yard work. Since we didn't have enough mulch on Saturday which we were not even expecting to get, mu husband had to go to the store to get 10 more bags. After him and the boys went to the store, I finished moving stones and sprayed ant spray all over. It seemed like it was never ending. Finally all the mulch was put down and the other stones were put around the edges. It looked great and I was proud that it was done. Here's to a great weekend of spending time outside and getting to know your neighbors.

A Chic Mommy

Computer

I know, I know. I haven't blogged in a while. Last week my computer started having problems and said I needed to back up my files because my hard drive was going to crash. Luckily I backed up almost everything. I took it to the computer repair place. He stated that my computer could crash at any time. Great, just what I need. So I decided to go ahead and leave my computer before I couldn't even turn it on. The guy called me back and said I needed a new hard drive. I couldn't believe that my computer already needed a new hard drive since it was only 2 years old. The man stated that some hard drives don't even make it a year. Guess that is news to me. So I told him to go ahead and install a new hard drive. It should be ready soon. Thank goodness.

A Chic Mommy

Computer/McAfee

I'm so sorry that I haven't blogged in a while except for the previous post of Mutton Bustin.  My computer pretty much crashed this past weekend.  So I'm using an older computer to write this message that takes forever because it just loads and loads since it hasn't been used in so long.

I took my computer in on Monday morning and today I was told that I need a new hard drive.  Yay, what fun!  :(  I believe I backed up everything prior though so that is good.  So they will install a new hard drive as with the addtional programs.  I'm hoping it will be ready by Friday afternoon.

While I was at the computer place on Monday, the guy told me that McAfee is really not a good program to use for viruses, etc.  Did you know that?  I know I sure didn't know that.  He said that it seems like they use more money on the marketing then the actual product.    My husband and I had bought the McAfee Total Protection which was not cheap.  We thought it would be great for viruses, spam, spyware, etc., but I felt it wasn't that good of a product.  I had McAfee before when we purchased the computer so we just upgraded to the total protection.  I had to install McAfee three different time because it stated, " You do not have anything backing up your files and your computer is at risk."  Why is my computer at risk if I already have the McAfee installed?  I felt like I was going round and round in circles with this.  Needless to say, I will not be getting McAfee again.  The computer guy told me to get Kaspersky anti virus program.  He said it works great. 

I also talked to him about getting an external hard drive.  I know I know most of you probably already have one.  He said a good brand for an external hard drive is Western Digital.  He said to stay away from the brand Seagate because they always fall apart even though it is the same price as Western Digital.  Since he knows what he is talking about, I know what I will be purchasing next.

A Chic Mommy