2012: A Year In Review

All the cool kids are doing this, so I guess I better do it, too.

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?
Completed an Ironman, got an MRI and a lumbar puncture, went on a cruise, went zip-lining, gave myself a shot, ran a 5K (seriously!).
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I think making it through the Ironman training and race happy and injury-free was the only real goal I had for this year, so yeah. I did it.
Next year I'd like to not travel quite so much, save a little money, and, you know, finally meet someone.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! My sister-in-law and my Aunnee.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, not this year.
5. What places did you visit?
What places didn't I visit? I made trips to Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska(x2), Toronto, Georgia(x2), Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitt's, St. Maarten, and California. I threw in a few quick local trips to Flagstaff and Tucson for good measure.
6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
A financially stable workplace. Love.
7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
June 24th - Completed Ironman Coeur d'Alene. The best day of my life so far.
June 29th - Diagnosed with MS. The worst.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Ironman was the big one, both training and racing. It was a huge commitment and a huge challenge, but I made it through all of the training and had a fantastic race weekend.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Staying consistently active during the second half of the year. I struggled with a little post-diagnosis depression during the summer/early-fall, and found it hard to get back into a rhythm.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Only of the incurable autoimmune variety. And also I'm seriously allergic to either cruise ships or the Caribbean; purchasing Benadryl from the ship convenience shop was a painful but necessary $20 experience.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Renting that house in Coeur d'Alene was pricey but fantastic. Also that cruise ship Benadryl.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My friends and family who rallied around me during the highs and lows of late June. I'm so very blessed.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The mass shooters that have burst onto the scene this year. Even just having to type shooterS--as in more than one--is appalling.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage, Ironman, travel.
15. What did you get really excited about?
My new niece. Ironman (duh). Finding out that Keffy is going to have twins. My September vacations.
16. What song will always remind you of 2012?
Ho Hey by The Lumineers
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? A little sadder.
b) thinner or fatter? A little fatter.
c) richer or poorer? A little poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Biking and running post-IM. Swimming can suck it.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Traveling, actually. I love it, but I think it's become a little bit of an escape from reality for me. That's not so great.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
At home in Nebraska with my amazing family. I look forward to this all year, every single year.
21. Did you fall in love in 2012?
I did not.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
Parks and Recreation hands down. I'm also really enjoying Dexter.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No.
24. What was the best book you read?
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
25. What music did you get excited about?
The Lumineers, Ben Howard
26. What did you want and get?
A sub-17hr IM finish.
27. What did you want and not get?
A sub-16hr IM finish.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Movies I saw in the theater: The Avengers, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The Hunger Games, Madagascar 3, Brave, Ted, ParaNorman, Frankenweenie, For A Good Time, Call..., The Hobbit, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Hotel Transylvania, The Five Year Engagement, Magic Mike, The Dark Knight Rises, Pitch Perfect, The Bourne Legacy, Looper, A Royal Affair, The Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi.
The worst: Magic Mike, hands down.
The best: For A Good Time, Call... Also really loved Brave and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I worked, and then went to dinner with two of my favorite ladies. I turned 30 this year.
30. What one thing would have made your year more satisfying?
Probably saving more money. It's lots of fun to travel all the time and do fun things, but I think having a good, solid savings plan again would be satisfying in a different way.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
I don't really have one? It's pretty much influenced by how cold my office is likely to be, and which end of my perpetual 10-pound weight fluctuation I'm at.
32. What kept you sane?
Long talks with htd and Cassie.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Real person: Robert Downey, Jr.
Character: Ben Wyatt on Parks & Rec.
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
The election. The gun control discussion.
35. Whom did you miss?
My friends and family scattered across the country. I did my best to visit as many of them as possible; hopefully some of them are able to return the favor in 2013.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
I finally got to meet Bree and Thister in real life; they're both fantastic!
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.
You can't control or judge how other people deal with your bad news.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I get knocked down, but I get up again. (Aaaaand now you have that song stuck in your head. Mwahaha!)

Here's to only good things in 2013.

The Roots Make Everything Better

Merry Christmas, you guys.

I Know Funny People

I also know funny, people.

And this fb exchange between some of my friends today is funny. Period.

Copaxone Flame In My Fat Cells

sing that ^^ like this, obviously.

(Admittedly it doesn't have the same ring to it, but it's more applicable to my life experience.)

About three weeks ago, I started my treatment protocol for the GD MS. Of all my stellar options [eye roll goes here], I sucked it up and chose the one that (potentially) affects my apparent vanity more than my quality of life: the daily injection with the most typical side-effect being injection-site reactions, including temporary lumps and permanent divots caused by fat cell destruction. For me, it was an infinitely more reasonable choice than spending my weekends on the couch with flu-like symptoms, but tell me that come shorts season! ...wait a minute. I don't wear shorts (outside of triathlons). Ah, and now you've had a little glimpse into my decision-making process.

The first shipment arrived on a Tuesday via overnight express, on ice, in a box about the size of your average over-the-range microwave. Opening this enormous box was not unlike disassembling one of those Russian nesting dolls, although the layers of packaging and boxes within boxes resulted in a 30-day supply of injectable medication instead of a tiny wooden figure of Mikhail Gorbachev, a decidedly less-delightful culmination of events.

The pharmaceutical company sent a nurse out to my house to show me how to do the injections. She is a really sweet lady who sort of reminded me of my mom, if a little older and rounder - and it turned out she is from Nebraska originally, because of course she is. She spent about two hours covering all the information and asking lots of questions, one of which was whether I was stressed at all when I first experienced my symptoms. I sort of laughed and told her I was in the middle of training for my first Ironman, so yeah, I was a little stressed. She went on to explain about the seven injection locations, which she described as The Fatty Areas: upper arms, stomach, hips, and thighs. Then, suddenly, she stopped and said "Oh! We might have a problem. Here, sit down and stick out your leg." What the...? But I did, and she proceeded to squeeze up and down the front of my thigh. I stared at her. Then she sat back and said, with a tone of utter relief, a tone that implied she was giving me an unimaginable gift, "Oh good. I was afraid that since you do these Ironman things that you wouldn't have enough fat on your thighs to do a subcutaneous injection, but you do!" What a weird way to kick me when I'm down.

Speaking of my fat, the injection device I use has a dial that controls how much of the needle goes into your skin based on how much fat you have to work with; a 5, the shallowest depth, means you are very lean, a 10, the deepest, means you are... very not. After explaining this, Nurse Sunshine eyeballed me up and down and said, "We're going to start you with a..." not ten not ten not ten "...hmm, let's try an 8." Whew. And, just so you know, by the end of it all, she decided that I should back it off to a 7.5, so...ha? I don't know. I'm looking for the bright side here.

So anyway, it's been three weeks and things seem to be going well. I do get the lumps, but they seem to go away after a day or so and, thanks to my apparently ample fat supply, they don't seem to show. Another one of those mixed blessings, I guess. And the needle itself doesn't hurt, but when the medication starts dispersing through the subcutaneous tissue (read: fat cells) it does burn a good deal for about 20 minutes or so (hence my kickass blog post title). So that's the plan for the foreseeable future. Honestly, all things considered, it could be much worse, and I am staying positive.

But really, FDA, let's hurry it up with that pill option.

Adventure On The High Seas

if "adventure" means "reading a book," and also "sleeping."

September 22nd - October 1st: Caribbean Cruise!

• Day 1 - Flew to Philadelphia on a red eye flight with Cassie.
• Day 2 - Flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Checked in on our ship, then walked around Old San Juan for the next several hours. Searched for free WiFi, took pictures, and ate unknown foods. Re-boarded ship and attended the mandatory safety muster. Ship pulled away from the pier at 10pm.
• Day 3 - Woke up in St. Thomas and began what would become our routine for the rest of the week: hit up the gym (where we see, at most, three other people), eat lunch at the Lido Deck buffet (where we marvel at the horrifying desserts), get off the ship and find a beach (where we rent an umbrella and beach chairs and read). Our first beach was BEAUTIFUL, and was the standard by which we judged all subsequent beaches.
• Day 4 - Woke up in the middle of the ocean. This was our day at sea as the ship made its way to the southernmost port on our journey. Gym, lunch, decktop reading. Had our first Elegant Evening, where everyone was expected to fancy up for dinner. We giggled at the people taking very serious, prom-style photos in front of cheesy photo backdrops of things like columns, cruise ships, and sunsets (let's all remember that there was a spectacular sunset RIGHT OUTSIDE).
• Day 5 - Woke up in Barbados. Gym, lunch, beach. And expensive chairs. And rain. And creepy and/or annoying men trying to sell us stuff and/or chat us up, the smarmiest of whom was named "Falcon. Like the bird." Hookay. After giving it a solid two hours (because, come on! We're in Barbados!), the majority of which was spent huddled under our umbrella as the wind blew and the rain poured down, I couldn't take it anymore, so we left. Not impressed with Barbados. Sorry, Rihanna.
• Day 6 - Woke up in St. Lucia. This was the location of our one and only shore excursion, a decidedly mediocre couple hours of ziplining. Watch the first 10 minutes of this and you'll see an uncanny representation of our day. Another Elegant Evening.
• Day 7 - Woke up in St. Kitts. Gym, lunch, beach. A much better oceanside experience than the last one. In addition to a reasonably priced beach chair/umbrella combo, we were afforded some free entertainment by the local gentleman who was in charge of collecting money for the chairs. Clinton was somewhere between 30 and 60, had spectacular dreadlocks, was as ripped as it is possible to be, just BURSTING with energy... and wearing the tiniest shorts you can imagine, over the top of some baggy grey briefs. Clinton spent the entire time running back and forth in front of the line of beach chairs, microshorts and megabriefs and...other things...flapping in the breeze. He did walking handstands and kicked around a tennis ball and chatted up the girls in the water and generally drew as much attention to himself as he could, while Cassie and I studiously kept our eyes on our Kindles and shot each other "are you seeing this?" side-eyes. Back on the ship, we attended a Towel Folding Workshop, where we learned how to make animals out of bath towels because that is awesome.
• Day 8 - Woke up in St. Maarten. Gym, lunch, beach. Ohhhhhhh, the beach. This. THIS was what we had been waiting for. Warm, turquoise blue water. Powdery white sand. No interruptions, no wind, no rain; just pure bliss. Le sigh.
• Day 9 - Woke up in San Juan. We debarked, sat at the airport for 7 hours, flew to Chicago, ate at Giordano's and spent a short night at a hotel.
• Day 10 - Woke up in Chicago (at 3am). Flew to Phoenix. Cassie drove back up the mountain, and we both went to work.

Conclusion: I had a fabulous time, mostly due to the relaxation and the company (and the 24-hour self-serve ice cream machine). Would I do it again? Probably not. Cruises (this particular cruise, anyway) are kind of like Las Vegas on the ocean; it seemed like the majority of the entertainment revolved around drinking and partying and gambling, which isn't really my scene. Plus there was the guilt of rolling up to these impoverished islands in this big-ass ship all "We're here! Entertain us and let us swarm your shops and beaches! 'Merica!" I dunno. I'd rather pick an island (St. Maarten!) and pick a beach (Dawn Beach!) and just stay there for a week and relax and explore the local culture. But still, it really was a fun trip. Hooray for amazing traveling companions.

Bonus: For funsies during our week of being away from phone/internet connections, Cassie and I kept track of all the things we wondered, but were not able to Google. Here is that list:

• Where am I? (on a map)
• How much should I tip?
• What is Mofongo? What is the difference between Alcofongo and Mofongo?
• What time does the sun rise?
• What is langoustine?
• How would we send for help if we were stranded at one of the ports?
• What constitutes a chutney?
• What is basa?
• When did the Titanic sink?
• What is espresso con panna?
• What beach do we go to in Barbados (or any of the islands, really)?
• How do you say "I don't understand." in German?
• How many kids does Matt Damon have?
• Is Margaret Thatcher dead?
• Do dudes (other than Clinton) wear underwear under their swimsuits?
• Are cruise desserts notoriously bad?
• What is the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon?
• Is there a nationality where most names start with a solitary I?

The Space Between

between my trips, that is.

September 12th - 22nd: The Happenings.

• Got my oven fixed.
• Got my garbage disposal fixed.

That's it. Not every stretch of time can be a winner.

Up Next: Adventure on the high seas.

Have I Told You Lately

um... anything?

September 1st - 11th: Road Trip! (in as few words as possible)
On September 1st, 2012, an epic journey began. It included 3000 miles of flying, 2300+ miles of driving, $246 in gas, 197(+/-) illustrated ponies/unicorns/pegasuses (pegasi?), 11 states, 9 families (with 15 kids and 4 more on the way), 4 half marathon training runs, 2 turtledoves, and a car trip in a Honda Accord.

• Day 1 - Flew to Atlanta. Stayed with Will and Sarah (and Sophia, Lucy, and Evan). SO good to see them and reconnect after six (!) years. Love them.
• Day 2 - Drew a pickle and a leaf. Met up with Alissa and Demis (and Sacha) for lunch and spent the rest of the day with them. Had a tiny tea party with Sacha and watched Dexter (NOT with Sacha). Then Bea showed up (yay!) and we headed to Nashville.
• Day 3 - Drove to Chicago. Stayed with Robert (and Zach, Margot, and Meredith). Kathy and Sean came over for a big cookout; there were many meats.
• Day 4 - Ran in the morning. Hit up Gino's East for lunch, then saw The Avengers with Kathy & Sean. Bea went to Zach's football game while the rest of us went to dinner. Explored the river walk.
• Day 5 - Breakfast with Robert. Drove to Wheaton College to go to chapel with Mitch, where Ravi Zacharias was speaking that day. Lunch with the Tomkins, farewell to the kids, then off to Fort Wayne, Indiana to see Aunnee & Heath (and Jonathan).
• Day 6 - Went for a run, made brownies, and relaxed. A good day.
• Day 7 - Went for a 7-mile run (woo!), spent some time chasing Jon around the yard, and watched Studio 60. Aunnee made amazing food, as usual.
• Day 8 - Drove to Chapel Hill. Stopped in Athens, Ohio to eat lunch at O'Betty's Red Hot, a hot dog museum/restaurant. All of this pales in comparison, however, to our kickass dinner companion: Wayne! It was so great to finally meet him in real life! He is exactly how I thought he'd be, which is to say he is awesome. That night we stayed with Jaime and Jo (and Adele and Evie) in their lovely new home.
• Day 9 - Attended Greenleaf (a long-awaited first for me), where we saw Rodger and Angela (and Garrett). Spent more time with Wayne, and then spent the afternoon drawing ponies (and unicorns...and pegasuses (pegasi?)) with the girls. Went to dinner and the park with the whole crew.
• Day 10 - Drew some (more) ponies with Evie, then ate lunch with the Garretts. Drove to Augusta, where we stayed with Mike and Meghan (and Hallie, Reese, Will and Avery).
• Day 11 - Ran in the morning. Drew two (MORE) ponies and one Diego. Rocked the bookstore and lunch, said goodbye to Bea (boo.), and then caught the shuttle back to Atlanta. Flew home, and slept in my bed for the first time all month. Holy moly.

Up Next: The space between...