Hey you guys! How are things going? I just wanted to give you a little update. I wish I could say things have been rosy and perfect but unfortunately I’ve been pretty sick recently. In fact, this entire winter I have had a cold in one form or another. This is a problem for a person that does 5+ podcasts a week (this week I have 7!). Fortunately I have not lost my voice all together but it has been challenging. I was really bummed because this last weekend I was scheduled to go to the Tumbleweeds Film Festival but I was too sick. I managed to push through Sundance but since I had a cough this time I didn’t feel right about it. I think it is super rude to go to the movies if you know you will be hacking throughout it. Plus, I felt miserable so what’s the point?
It really has been a tough winter for me. I think part of it is the inversion has been very bad and that puts my sinuses at risk for infection and viruses. The worst thing is when you are coughing so hard that your chest starts to hurt and it feels like you can’t breath. I am also very mucusy and going through a box of tissues a day. My nose is raw and chafed from blowing it so much. Fortunately, my job has been super understanding and kind with helping me get better, which I am beyond grateful for. Even so, I wish I could take a weeks off to 100% get better and finally lick this infection.
I am just glad I don’t have kids because that would be so stressful while being sick. Plus, I’m glad there is Jamba Juice just a hop away. Caribbean Passion is my fav with immunity whenever I get sick. I also watched Happy Feet which is my traditional sick day movie (it’s dancing penguins. How can you be uncheered by that?)
Even while sick we have been plugging away at the Hallmarkies podcast and I’m very proud of our efforts. It’s entertaining, fun and people seem to really like it. Please check it out even if you don’t like Hallmark movies! (We are very charming. You don’t want to miss it)
This week’s winners post is a day late but I’ve been sick so you will have to give me a little bit of a leeway. In this new series I am going to be posting about things I think are winners! There is enough negativity out there, so let’s talk about what is positive whether it be movies, TV, books, food, friends, whatever!
Happy Birthday Megan!- My sister Megan has a birthday today and she has accomplished so much in the last year with the publication of her first book Finding Wild. She’s a great mother, friend, and sister.
Nothing is better when I’m sick than a Jamba Juice. They taste so good and feel so good on my sore throat. Thanks to my Mom for getting me one last week. Sometimes I think I could live off of Jamba Juice! My favorite flavor is Caribbean Passion.
If you haven’t caught The Crown on Netflix you really are missing out on one of the best shows ever made. Much heralded as the most expensive show ever produced for Netflix it lives up to the hype. The acting is tremendous and it is real human drama. My friend Tom and I have been talking about it and will finish our podcasts discussing the finale tonight!
It’s hard to have winners this week and not talk about the Patriot’s unlikely come from behind win at the Super Bowl. I do not follow football at all but even I was impressed with what they did. It is the season for underdogs in football and politics I guess!
I went to the new Intermountain Health Care Draper Clinic yesterday and was very impressed. Everything was clean and organized and I did not have to wait long to see the doctor. They got me my prescriptions and it was all very simple and easy. I will definitely be returning there.
I finished reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and LOVED it! What an inventive, charming, funny, wonderful novel. It hits nostalgia galore without leaning on that nostalgia and is sci-fi without being boring. It felt positive which is a real rarity for these types of novels. It does have some cussing but not enough to bother me. I rarely walk away feeling so positive about a novel as I did for Ready Player One. Now I just can’t wait for the Spielberg movie to come!
So there you go! The losers for this week are the witch hut against Betsy Devos, my flu, and the violent Berkeley protesters.
What about you? What are your winners for this last week? Share in the comments section below.
I know some of you follow me on social media so you know I have been and am extremely sick. Particularly Sunday through Tuesday I was some of the sickest I’ve ever been in my adult life. I couldn’t breathe fully, was coughing non-stop, very congested (went through a box and half of tissues in that time), wheezy breathing, body aches and lots of awfulness.
You might not know because I am so public and bold but I actually lead a fairly lonely life. Most of that is my choice. I work alone and I am unmarried. Most of my good friends have moved away from me and so I rely on book clubs and other monthly events for socializing and real-world contact. The Summer is better because I meet friends for swims quite a bit. Anyway, my family doesn’t live by me either except for some cousins and my Grandma. My parents are moving here which will be nice and my brother was going to school for Fall/Winter but for the most part I am alone.
Normally I am fine being alone but when I get sick it is tough. It is especially so when I am this sick. It was painful to breathe let alone cook, clean, drive or do anything else. So I was pretty miserable (as my twitter followers can attest to!).
Finally Tuesday morning I had slept about 2 hours in 3 days and I hit my low. I called my Mom and sobbed but it was the weird halting coughing sob where she couldn’t understand a thing I said. I told her I wished I could fly her out to take care of me. For once in my life I needed help. I couldn’t do it alone any more. I was just kind of venting but I really was at a genuine low place.
However, I’m a pretty independent person so I think she knew it was pretty bad. To my shock a few hours later she texted me ‘I got a plane ticket. I will be there 7:30 tonight”. I couldn’t believe it! She was coming to rescue me. She wouldn’t normally be able to do such a thing (she still has a child at home and is in the middle of a move and is Relief Society President at church) but it just happened where it could work out.
I’ll never forget this thing she has done. I can promise you that. When I’m old and feeble and she’s long gone I will talk about the time my Mother flew across 4 states at a moments notice to rescue me.
My friend who does not have a relationship with her mother (a very toxic woman she’s better off not having in her life) made a very powerful comment:
“This post makes me happy. I’m glad you have a parent who will come help you. I’m so glad you don’t take that for granted. While I hate that you aren’t well, I am glad you got to feel the love of a parent in action.”
It really is true. I am not someone who has a ton of love in my life. I do not have a great partner or spouse. I have never really been romantically in love. And I have no children to understand that love. I understand friendship and treasure those relationships but it feels good to know I’m a girl who is loved by her Mother. Loved enough to come and rescue me.
It made a big difference too. I went and saw the doctors in the morning, which I wouldn’t have done because I went to urgent care on Sunday. They did blood-work and an x-ray because they were concerned about the wheezing. He gave me a steroid that has helped a lot with the coughing and a new antibiotic. The difference between today and Tuesday is huge.
Sure the medical care is nice but I think the love helped too.
I’ll keep you guys posted on how my recovery is going. Hopefully I don’t have pnemonia or something like that. I am also soooo thankful to my boss for being wonderful through all this. I am incredibly blessed woman.
I hope you all feel loved and when you are in need of rescue someone is there. Sure love ya!
I hope you are doing great! I just wanted to do a quick post.
First, I needed to make sure to tell my readers on this blog about Disney’s new film- Zootopia. What a special treat we have at the theaters! As someone who has seen the film twice and every other Disney film I can confidently say this is a MUST SEE in the theater!
Zootopia is a movie that has something for everyone. The world building is amazing with likable characters- particularly Judy Hopps who dreams of being Zootopia’s first rabbit cop. It’s also very funny, sweet and inventive. Disney is even willing to make fun of itself and the animation is stunning as usual.
Everyone I know who has seen it has loved it. This is also one of the rare films I preferred seeing in 3D because the experience was so immersive in Zootopia. It’s not 3D where things are thrown at you all the time, so if you can I’d go for it.
On another note my headache problems are persisting. This morning it was hard to even move it was so painful. I was wondering if any of you have tips that help you with headaches?I would love to hear anything that works for you.
It was weird because I had about 3 more hours I could have slept but I woke up with the piercing pain. It was that bad it woke me up. It made me feel nauseated and like I was going to pass out.
Today I ended up taking 2 excederine which I hate to do because of the caffeine and I used an ice pack to help. I also used lavender oil and that seemed to help a little bit.
My brother came down and it was nice to talk with him- distracted me from the pain.
Anyway, anything you can do to help me that would be great. Thank you! Hope you are doing well and will be in touch this week. I’ll at least have a Teaser Tuesday with my latest reading and a Friday Five music post on Friday. If you have any ideas for posts please let me know.
Sorry I have let it go 5 days between posts. I’m never sure how that happens! At least this time I have an excuse. I’m afraid I have had a wicked virus and been quite sick. I don’t have the strongest immune system and it seems like every year or so I get a whopper of an illness. My whole family is not the strongest when it comes to our immune system. It is probably partly due to going 48 hours without sleep in New York City but it was worth it.
Some people are what I call high output people. They seem to be able to accomplish so much and do things like all nighters without it phasing them. I never could, even when I was in college. I’ve done all nighters by accident with my insomnia but that is a completely miserable experience and it is hard for me to function. What is amazing is people who can go, go, go without it wearing them down. I get sick every time. Oh well!
Luckily I have a job that I can easily do while sick and that’s a huge blessing. I also found a new doctor that is covered by my insurance and had a very positive experience. He prescribed me the biggest pills ever and seemed very attentive.
I did keep up my movie reviews so make sure to check out the movie blog including my review of the new Dreamworks film Home.I also have been doing some fun videos on the channel including a collaboration with an awesome youtuber from London and my favorite movies when I’m sick. If you aren’t subscribed to my movie blog and my channel please do. I think you will really enjoy the content and it will be worth your time.
So let’s hope I can kick this illness and be at the top of my game again. Hope you are all healthy and illness free.
So if you ‘ve noticed I’ve been a little lethargic lately it’s because I have been. I just haven’t been feeling great- fever, fatigue, cold chills. But no other symptoms like sore throat or stuffy nose. Just feeling really really tired all the time. I’ve got things to do but would pretty much always rather be sleeping.
The problem it creates is getting back to the gym because I’m so tired. I slept this entire weekend away and took Monday off work because I felt lousy and slept all day those days. I feel a little better today but am still very tired.
It’s frustrating because sleep is supposed to be this simple thing. This basic human function but not for me. There always seems to be a lot of drama attached to it. And to make matters worse when I am able to get to sleep despite being tired all day I often have a hard time getting to sleep. It’s just a huge mess.
Can any of you relate? I have to be careful who I mention my sleep issues too because I have found my Mom friends can be a little unsympathetic. Me a single girl tired! “Just wait till you have a baby” they say with their eyes. I get it but I really am tired. I promise! 😉
I just wish I could figure this thing out and sleep regularly like a normal person but I’ve tried everything from therapy to drugs to meditation. Sleep is my enemy and constant frustration.
All I know is I am soooooooo thankful to have a job I can do at weird hours that works with whatever weirdness my sleep is putting me through. There are no words for how grateful I am for that.
So, excuse the sleeping vent. It’s just frustrating.
Mine is a knee problem of another sort. Sadly today was supposed to be my last day at the family reunion but yesterday I slipped on a tub in my hotel room and twisted my knee badly. I was able to get out of the tub by rolling out and then hobbled to clothes. However, when I tried to get onto the bed and lift my knee a bit my leg turned to jello and I toppled to the ground.
My poor Dad came to my rescue and had the Herculean task of lifting not so little me up onto a desk chair that they rolled down the hallway onto the elevator.
No wheelchair or bathroom mat I could see! Badly done Hampton Inn. The lady was very good to wait for me but I called and told them what had happened and she said ‘I will have someone come fill out an incident report’ and I said ‘could you get me a bag of ice first…(sigh. Litigious world we live in)
Nevertheless, I was in so much pain. Worse than ever in my life. Basically carrying me into the car and then drove me to the urgent care. Luckily the urgent care took my insurance (even though Humana had no one at their call centers for emergencies!)
They were great at the urgent care and did 3 x-rays and gave me a shot, some meds. According to the doctor it could take a while to heal. I certainly can’t put any weight on it right now. I’m honestly very surprised it isn’t an ACL or break because the pain is very strong (although the pain meds do help).
I have been packing the knee with ice 24/7 and resting. Thankful for my family for taking care of me and Sam for giving up his room. In a way it is a good place to have something like this happen because at home I would have lots of stairs and nobody home most the day to help me.
I was supposed to fly home tomorrow but I can’t even have my knee dangling and if anyone touches it there is extreme pain. There is no way I could wedge into a little airline seat right now. Luckily I had gotten the trip insurance and Delta let me get a credit.
I hope Sunday I am able to continue to rest so I can work a little bit on Monday. I’d hate to get too behind after missing 3 days of work this week for the reunion.
Please send a little prayer for me that the pain will be bearable and that it will heal quickly. It’s certainly been one of the most painful experiences of my life. I just wish it was all for something more exciting than a shower!
It’s a real shame because I had been having a pretty good time at the reunion. This is actually not the first knee injury at a family reunion. My Uncle Jim tore his ACL at a Thanksgiving reunion we had in Colorado.
I guess family is hard on the knees and not just from all the praying!
This is a pretty simple post. The last few months I have been getting terrible headaches. Debilitating. Yesterday on Easter Sunday I sat in my room most of the day and nursed about a 10 hour head ache.
I know that some of you have dealt with headaches, so I am curious for some advice. What do you find to be the most helpful? How do you function if you get one? At least I have a job where I can work with lights off or sound free environment if needed but just curious if there are any suggestions that might help.
Sugar seems to help and sleeping. If I have a bad night, which I did Saturday, than I often get a headache the next day. But it seems to be linked to my blood sugar a bit so if I sip a soda or something sweet the pain is better. Has anyone else experienced that? Medicine doesn’t seem to do much to help.
Anyway, just curious for some advice and maybe to vent a bit. I hate these headaches!
So remember how I wrote about this being the ‘perfect Christmas’? Well, I had a feeling I was jinxing myself and I sure did. I had been dealing with a cough for a couple of weeks but then on Monday I really started to feel poorly. Enough so that I went to the doctor just in case it was an infection. Turns out it was a virus. No big surprise.
I was hoping it would just be a little thing but Tuesday (Christmas Eve) I wasn’t feeling great but I pushed through the day. My throat hurt and I just didn’t feel good. I got through the day and then stumbled home and crashed sleeping till 10 am. I felt pretty rotten but I went up to where my parents are staying and got my presents but I kept falling asleep (a bad sign. I never take naps unless I’m sick) and after about 12:30 I felt so bad I had to go home and spent the rest of Christmas Day in bed.
Then yesterday and today came with more time in bed and I still feel very rotten. I can’t talk, my throat hurts and I just feel awful. Thank you to my home teachers who gave me a blessing this morning and my friend Tanya who brought me dinner.
I hope this weekend I am able to improve. We will see. At least I have some time off work to heal.
Send out a prayer my way. Thanks. Thanks to my family for coming out here. I am soooo grateful to not be traveling with this sickness.
How do you determine the success of a health regiment or diet? I would wager that 90% of you would answer “weight loss” or if you didn’t you probably would be thinking ‘weight loss’ in your head but saying something more socially acceptable.
Here’s the thing- THAT IS WRONG!!
Every day there seems to be more evidence that the link between weight, even obesity, and actual health is not as strong as we once thought. This defies the logic of the ‘war on obesity’, Michele Obama, scores of trainers/dieticians but that doesn’t mean it is not true.
Read this book. It will BLOW YOUR MIND
Think it is just one woman’s crazy enabling antics? No. The book has 7 pages of detailed recommendations from doctors, leaders, scientists etc. (see articles for more back up
To start the book Dr Bacon (I know ironic last name) shares her testimonial. Here it is directly from the book:
This quote might lead you to believe the book is merely anecdotal but its not. There is real science to back up what she says about eating healthy, being happy and not worrying about weight. She leaves no stone unturned answering questions about diabetes, cholesterol, heart disease, bone density, and even has the most brilliant defense against gastric bypass I’ve ever read. I’m telling you it will change the way anyone, not just the obese, look at eating, health and exercise. Here is my favorite (this is also quoted in Amy Farrell’s brilliant book Fat Stigma):
UC Davis.
“In this study, a group of fat women was divided into 2 groups, one receiving coaching in restrictive eating (diet) and exercise, the other being encouraged to eat a healthy diet, listen to their bodies cues, to foster ways to engage in fun exercise and take part in a fat acceptance discussion group.
Significantly group 1- the traditional diet/exercise group- initially lost weight, but by the end half had dropped out; most had regained weight; blood pressure, cholesterol, and other metabolic measures had not improved and self-esteem levels had dropped.
In contrast, group 2 hadn’t lost any weight, but most stayed with the 2 year program; their blood pressure, cholesterol, and other metabolic measures had improved dramatically; their self-esteem levels increased substantially; and they exercised regularly. Encouraged to pay attention to their bodies, to stop restricting calories, to fight the discrimination they experienced as fat people, and to enjoy their bodies through physical movement and eating well- the non-dieters showed significant health improvements. But, and this is the key point, they never became thin.”
Doesn’t that blow your mind?
One of Dr. Bacon’s patients describes her battle and realization of her own worth so beautifully:
I recently have become aware of the activist Jeanette DePatie, otherwise known as The Fat Chick. She gets it. I wish someone had explained this to me when I started exercising (instead I went into it expecting to lose 100 lbs in the first year. Sigh…)
I am happy most of the time. I love my life most of the time. I have times when I’m more fit than others but I’ve basically looked the same since I was 17 years old and I was always ashamed by that, like it was this big failure I could never overcome. Now I just make sure I have clothes that fit me in lots of sizes and work out at least 3 times a week. Would I like to be skinny? Yes, but I’m finally not convinced I’d be any happier if I was (or healthier). The guilt is for the most part gone.
I hope this encourages all of you. I started my journey saying I was the Only Happy Fat Woman in America and I had friends who fought me on it. They thought I was just being patronizing or disingenuous but it was true then and today it is still true (I really had someone argue with me saying I was basically full of crap. Not true). TV will make you believe you have to be miserable if you are fat (biggest loser sorry) but its a lie! Be healthy, be happy, be human, have bad days, eat cake and then work out for an hour the next day, find stuff you love, therapies that work and live the best life you can.
Every time Tanya and I swim together people look and have a surprised expression. I know they think ‘I’ve never seen a girl that looks like do what they are doing’ and that makes me so happy. It may be my greatest legacy of all.
So thats what I have to say on that. Get active. Be happy. Love life and Follow God.
And just keep at it.Do something you never thought you could do. I love MMA (kick boxing) and I’m not too bad at it!Do a fashion show when you find a cute pair of jeans. Who cares!Find something you love. Even after all the swims I’ve done it still makes me smileMy trainer who has stood by me for 4 years. She is why I go to treehouse and she is one of my rocks. I really love her.
I would also just add that my times in the water when I’m at my thinnest and best trained is about 3 minutes faster than when I’m not. My recovery is much better but my time really isn’t. Funny. It just goes to show what your definition of success makes such a difference in achieving it. If I was only focused on times I’d never be successful.
Hey you guys! How are things going? I just wanted to give you a little update. I wish I could say things have been rosy and perfect but unfortunately I’ve been pretty sick recently. In fact, this entire winter I have had a cold in one form or another. This is a problem for a person that does 5+ podcasts a week (this week I have 7!). Fortunately I have not lost my voice all together but it has been challenging. I was really bummed because this last weekend I was scheduled to go to the Tumbleweeds Film Festival but I was too sick. I managed to push through Sundance but since I had a cough this time I didn’t feel right about it. I think it is super rude to go to the movies if you know you will be hacking throughout it. Plus, I felt miserable so what’s the point?
Rachel's Musings 