sew, sew, sew your chair

(Before and after of my kitchen chairs)

I have been doing some amatuer upholstering and sewing for about 4 years. I really love it. My mom makes custom draperies and re-upholsters furniture for a living. She is awesome at it and she's about to retire so I want to learn. What lead a science geek to go into upholstery?!

When Koo was a few months old, I developed contact dermitis from being in constant contact with chemicals causing my skin to break out in red, itchy bloches all over my body. It still is a problem to this day. I know chemicals like chlorine, hand sanitizers, and some ingredients in soap plays havoc on my system. But I digress, so thinking that one day I would have to go back to work once my little boys start public school-I want to have a flexible job that I can be there for them at a moment's notice. Plus, I want to continue to spend time with my lovely husband at lunch.

Due to my skin problems and family, I most likely won't be able to return to labwork because of all the chemicals used. So that's what has lead me to upholstery. Plus my mom gave me a few industrial sewing machines that rival any sweatshop.

Airing out my dirty laundry

I don't like doing laundry. I don't mind the washing and dry part. I hate not being able to get all the stains out usually because I just shove the clothes into the washer. Then I get anxious about having a load sit there for more than four hours because of the mold smell that might develop. Usually, I shrink something I don't mean to because I forget to not dry it. Then the worst of it all, folding and ORGANIZING stacks and stacks of clothes to put away into drawers that are messy because I have to shove the stacks in there to make it all fit. And just when I think I'm done and all caught up and let my guard down...I turn the corner and like a Chia pet, I've got an overflowing basket of dirty clothes piled up.

12K

My workout partner and I ran our first 12K this weekend. Here's what I know:

• I didn't collapse running the longest distance in my life


• How much faster I ran (finished 1 hour 28 minutes)


• How many young kids participated (I hope my boys will want to do this in the future)


• How many people wore bad/wrong shoes for running


• How many people stopped for an ice cream bar in the middle of the run?!


• How much my arms hurt (now I know why distance runners have such nice arms)


• How quickly I said "Now we train for a half-marathon"

I couldn't have done this race without the support of my lovely husband. He made it possible for me to train by looking after our children and for working so hard so I could get the help in achieving this feat. This run was huge for me because I am afraid of large crowds being so short and how out-of-shape I was...

Last but not least, I couldn't do this without God. Thank you God for looking out for me.

Microbes 1 v. My Family 0

Dear itty bitty microscopic bugs,
Could you please leave my family and I alone? I'm tired of fighting with you. My boys noses can't take anymore of me running after them to wipe the goopy, yellow muck that runs from it. The Kleenex company stocks are skyrocketing thanks to my usage of three boxes in two weeks. My lovely husband can't get you out of his head and it's been four months. Your lease is up in our bodies. I don't have a complete game plan to eradicate you yet. Don't make me go all Clorox bleach, antimicrobial wipes, and Purell on you. Do I need to resume my Bubble Boy practices on you?!

Thanks for sending that extra special virus to infect my ears and make me want to chuck my daily 20 points worth of food this past week. It's been fun. Now leave. I am willing my third-world immunity to step in and make me feel better.

Husband? Where Art Thou?!

My lovely is once again traveling for work but this time for the entire week. UUGGHHH!! How do single parents do it? I hate it when he is out of town. Although in lovely's defense, he really didn't want to go to this conference because he has to give a presentation on the last day of the conference. That means, no relief of the knot in his tummy until the curtain closes on the final day. Gross!!! Public speaking is worst than trying to lose 30 lbs.

Although one up side of having an engineer for a husband, he practices his presentation with you, you won't ever have trouble going to sleep. I wasn't sleepy before he started but the topic is so far from anything that interests me (like Physics...), I was nodding off and yawning afterwards. This topic was like a sleeping pill for me. I told him I couldn't work for his company because I wouldn't be able to stay awake long enough to get any work done. I wouldn't feel good about cheating a company out like that.

Hurry home and be safe husband.

Weight Loss Goals...revisited

I'm hungry today due to monthly hormonal inbalance that makes me crave everything yeast leavened and bad for you. Straight to your hips kind of food. I haven't gone over my WW points and that is huge for me. I am trying to stay focus on my longterm weight loss goals. So I thought I'd list them to remind myself why I am cutting back on food, exercise and find new ways to torture myself physically by signing up for a 12k.

1) Health-prevent diabetes and heart attack, lower my cholesterol, breath better, & help my mental outlook (not get so embarrassed when I run into people I haven't seen in years looking fatter).
2) Run faster mile and do more fun runs (like how fun is a marathon?! ). So I'm not there yet but one day.
3) Get muscle definition in my arms (I have never had this and no it's not my extra hands waving back at you...it's just my loose, fatty skin).
4) Set an example for my boys-they see me being more active, they want to be more active too.
5) Look hot for my lovely husband (okay this really is my #2 but I thought I should try to not be so vain).
6) Not look at pictures of myself and cringe because I can't believe I had let myself get this big.

So now my stats on where I'm at today: I can run 5 miles in 64 minutes and still function, do 15 man push-ups without collapsing, weigh 133.4 lbs., and wear a size 8 clothes without any stretchy material. I have about 10 lbs. left to my goal weight and then I will reevaluate what that will look like for me. Right now, I feel so much better and for the most part, I don't feel like I am missing out on any food. I used food A LOT for comfort but I redirect it now. If I can only get my monthly hormonal influx under control...

Labyrinthitis

It has a name!! Two nights ago, I woke up from dead sleep with sudden dizziness and the felt like I needed to vomit. This continued for the next six hours. I didn't know what it was-all I knew was the room would spin fast out of control and I felt like I was going to fall. Then because I was so dizzy, I wanted to vomit. Horrible. My husband finally convinced me to go to the hospital (I didn't want to because I was afraid I would have to wait for hours to be seen). I didn't want to disgrace myself in front of an audience. Thankfully, my friend took our boys and we were seen right away. I didn't know if I was having a stroke, menegitis, or ear infection. It turned out to be an inner ear infection called Labyrinthitis where the maze of canals fill with fluid or inflamed for whatever reason, it affects balance and hearing. This causes vertigo (spinning room feeling), loss of balance, nausea, vomit, hearing loss, and tinnitus. So far no hearing loss because I can still hear my boys fighting.

Anyway, there is not a cure but a medicine that helps with the symptoms so you can function until the inner ear heals called Meclizine (prescription and over the counter). I am forever thankful to the researchers who came up with this medicine. I have heard of others having vertigo and have never felt this outside of a merry-go-round, but I can't believe others have this chronically and stay sane.

Of course through all this, my lovely husband was there and he has been awesome at taking care of the boys so I can recover. Also, thank you C.B. for taking my boys.