Miranda Lambert

Last weekend a friend of Sharene's (drummer for Randy Houser) was in town as one of the warm up acts for the Miranda Lambert concert...,if you don't know country music this may all be meaningless! But he got Sharene, Madi and I guest passes, including ViP parking beside the bands tour bus and Kevin taking is back stage. It was all great fun!!!'



Kevin in action.






Kevin & Madi....he was so sweet to us and Madi in particular.



Awesome light show.












Went out to dinner last night.....yummy food and company.





Back at work. Busy busy busy.....no soft landing. Right back on it!

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Back to work, not quite running....but close

Today was my first day back at work.......drinking from the fire hydrant.....no commute this week which was/is good as getting back into it is tiring.  I'm being philosophical about the nonsense.

My plan is to start the running regime again this weekend.  I did a "baseline" run at Sharene's before my op.  I'm going to use it to measure my fitness and progress.  I miss running and being in the world in that way.  Running is challenging; but post op recovery makes me very protective of my body so it's a journey back to health and I'm not about to screw it up by getting out there too early.  I do feel 100% better than I did.  Laughing too as  I am getting the night sweats but not so terrible......I do get some flushes too.  So my body is changing. I'm just looking forward to feeling 100+%.

Sharene and I have signed up for a 5 miler at Big Sur.  This is fun and funny; Sharene loves that area but she hates running!  She does like exercise though.....we hike (that's day walking for the kiwis) a lot, which I love as she's taken me to some awesome places.  For non-runners the 5 miler is a very manageable walk or walk/run. I don't much care, it will be lovely to do it together and I love the area and couldn't do the run I'd signed up for earlier this year because of the op.  I do love to plan ahead!

Back to work...almost

Week 4 is almost done and I have decided to go back to work, remotely, next week. While I know I am not 100% it's a tough working world out here and I feel I need to get back. Working remotely will ease the transition as I will have no commute. If it doesn't go well I can back out. I feel it's time to go back as I am starting to work by default! I really am remarkably good overall. Funny though I know people will think four weeks off is grand fun....but really it's exhausting to recover from this surgery. Today would be the first day where I haven't felt some significant discomfort. Having a massage therapist for a girlfriend has definitely helped ease the discomfort that comes with the op! She also takes none of my "I'm okay" when she sees I am not! Never a bad thing to be called out. I am waiting another week before I try running - I'll roll with how my body feels on that one. But this week I realize how much I miss it.......
Pic of Sharene and I hanging out at the beach....last time we were here I could only sit on a bench, this time able to take a stroll.



Oh and Madi and I went to PetSmart today ....saw this cute fish...



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Walking

Saturday Sharene and I went walking at Crystal Springs Reservoir. So pretty and perfect for me as not many hills....still not quite ready to run.






Mandatory coffee!



Plan is to go back to work working remotely next week then a mix of onsite/remote the following week. That feels manageable and I have to say work have been pretty awesome about time off. Really it's up to me to engage or not so I've been good and really only dealt with the important stuff i.e annual performance reviews for my people.

Last week I also went to a naturopath and massage therapist who deals specifically with muscle balance. The naturopath has prescribed a bunch of stuff for menopause. General feeling from my surgeon was I don't necessarily need to default to HRT and should see how I go. Naturopath was excellent and we talked through a bunch of options. I've started taking some things to see how I go. Feels like the right thing but I have estrogen patches to fall back on if needed!




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More boring

I continue on the path of healing! Today I went to Sharene's naturopath and her massage therapist.  Right or wrong, better or worse menopause is here.......awesome!  That said, there are some things to consider.  My surgeon wasn't all gun-ho on HRT, gave me some options and today I went and spoke to the naturopath.  Wow, there's a lot of stuff to consider and options.  For the record post-op I didn't need nor want to take the big arse painkillers I had prescribed.  They were there if I needed them, but I didn't.  So I was also interested in not necessarily going into HRT by default.  Kudos to my surgeon, he doesn't think prescribing just "because" is worth it either.
So today I sat through 90mins of a lot of options, choices, things to think about.  I have no interest, nor fascination with all this stuff.  Firstly, just like my mum, I don't care to take synthetic, prescribed anything......on the upside, simple painkillers work for me.... paracetomol in NZ or tylenol in the US.  Secondly, tell me what I gotta do and I'll do it......so now I have a bunch of stuff to take.  Ironicallly, and by default, there's one thing I have been taking thanks to Ironman Girl that works awesomely for menopausal woman......that's my life right now....boring but true.

Ugh

Today I have been sore. No surprises of course, I have been restrained and done my very best to not "over extend". But my right side is sore - the surgeon predicted it. In an odd twist Irene's girlfriend also had major surgery (similar but different from mine) a week or two before mine. She had given me a support belt or wrap (really no idea what to call it) to wear around my waist. I am naturally loathe to wear these things but have, this weekend, taken it up as it is helping my posture, having me be mindful about how I move when walking. I think I have been twisting in an odd way, not helping my healing. Anyway, these things are a process and I will see how I feel next week......the ache from a long run seems so much more "welcome". On the upside I do feel overall physically better off for having all this nonsense removed. Momentary discomfort shouldn't be confused with the overall sense of well being I have!


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Daily life and Boston

Week two is done.  Work is finding it increasingly difficult not to email me.  I am ignoring most of it, except those that directly impact my team and the impending performance review process.  Of course this week was punctuated with the Boston bombing.  It saddens me deeply that something as simple as a marathon can be used in this way.  It seems twice as sad that it was the spectators who bore the brunt, I haven't yet seen mention of a runner being badly hurt.  Watching a marathon seems such an innocent past time.  It also does make me realize how much living here is right for me.  I feel attached to these events, how they are handled and the outcome in the way I would in NZ.  The US has become my home.  2006 (when I immigrated) seems such a long time ago and so much has happened.  This blog is a useful reference for me as it really tells the story of my journey here and my own personal evolution.  I can't say that I would have felt the same affinity to those runners a few years back.....now I am as determined as the rest to reclaim the right to run without fear and enjoy the spectators support.  The difference between "a long run" and "a marathon" are the spectators......without them it's just another training day.

Goodie bag

Well if it's not entirely obvious by now I am clearly not running the planned for 50 miler this weekend.....in truth, I guess I'd given up on it some weeks back when it became increasingly apparent that the requires surgery was likely to be more invasive, not less.
As some consolation I did get this cool water bottle from the hospital - everyone gets one for their water. Very cool as the straw is flexible and can be covered, so easy to sup in bed and hygienic.


These are the exciting things my mind wonders to as my recovery progresses.
The weather is nice so today I have ventured in Sharene's mother's garden to read.



The book is a true story - covering eight weeks in 1945 in Berlin. A young women recorded the fall of the city to the Russian Army. Or more correctly kept a daily record of her life in her apartment building. While the author is unknown it seems she was a journalist. The book is beautifully written; a candid account of what happened for her and the residence around her. I haven't read anything but running books for a while now so this is a "refreshing" change - albeit a somewhat grim subject!

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One day at a time

Came home from hospital on Saturday. Keyhole surgery worked although turns out all a lot more complicated than the doc had hoped. Mostly because the endo was everywhere and everything way more swollen than he anticipated. He gave me a photo of my insides - I won't over share.

I was at El Camino Real Hospital in Mountain View. Very nice setting and good nursing care. Really all the trappings of a private hospital in NZ. Sharene got a few action shots.






Had to get up and moving pretty quick after surgery. Tummy was huge, looked pregnant!!!! Over the next few days I just focused on getting the balance between rest and mobility. I think I all the ops I've had this has been the most intense. As the gas has left my body the tummy had gotten progressively smaller and feels less "stretched". I've got at least two weeks off work then see how it looks for, maybe, part time. Overall I'm really happy to get this done - I figure none of this stuff was doing me much good so better to have it gone.

Today was my first real outdoor adventure. Off to the beach to get some fresh air.



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Weekend updates

Last weekend was St Patricks day and Sharene had the kids create little 'traps' for the leprechauns so that she could leave them little gifts. Madi did an awesome job.



Overnight Sharene left out some bags of sweets and also made a little peg leprechaun. I wish I'd taken a photo because in the morning Brax came flying into the room all excited and said they had left gifts and made a "copy" of themselves so we would know what they look like...riotous. The green milk and water was also noted!

Madi has also joined a softball team; red devillishous, so Saturday I went along and watched her play. The kids are all around 10yrs old; one or two of them look headed for softball scholarships....some very impressive ball skills.



Madi is on the right.

On another note, because telling folk individually is taking to long, on April 5 I am having surgery. Going to have a hysterectomy. No not cancer bunch of other stuff going on so the simple answer is to take I all out, including my last remaining ovary so I guess that's the end of that! Surgeon thinks he can do it laparoscopicly (sp?), making it a day surgery woohoo. Anyway would hate for you all to think I'd got all boring.




Millie at the beach.


California sunset!

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Out and about

In between work etc I've been doing some adventuring. A few weeks back we went and hung out at the Stanford Campus.very beautiful and has an awesome free art gallery.






















































Went out to dinner at a bar in Redwood City. Had a yummy Moscow Mule served in these very cool cups.

Went walking the dish with Sharene and Brax; guess why they call it the dish?















Turns out California girls glow.



















Went to the yummiest Korean Tofu House for work.

Adventuring

So I somewhat reluctantly had to concede last weekends race as a bad idea. While I have been running I knew I hadn't done the cumulative miles it would take to actually enjoy the race and not risk injury. I felt disappointed in myself but also felt it was the right decision. I ran the New Orleans marathon last year woefully under prepared - it was kind of miserable at the end and I vowed I'd never do it again. On the upside it has re-inspired me to get on a more structured training plan.
Despite not doing the run I did have a very physical weekend. Sharene and I went for a trail run and big walk Saturday and then Sunday S & I and the kids went for another run then off to the beach.




It was lovely and warm on the beach but the water was freezing!
Afterwards we gathered some rocks and painted them.




I've never painted rocks....it was fun.




Random shot of SF taken from the top of the hill near home.
Also random shot of Lotte surveying her queendom.




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Valentines Day

While long past I thought I'd share these:



Over the past few months I've doing origami with Sharene and the kids. It's been fun to do so for valentines I thought I'd create a little bouquet. It took some practice runs but I finally got it! You can't see it but I also managed to create a vase as well.
Valentines was lovely. Sharene stayed over (bringing some yummy wine with her) and the next morning we went walking at Lands End, which is one of the places I've run and posted pics if, very beautiful. As an added bonus we got to watch a pod I dolphins play - looked like there were babies in the crowd too!



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More adventures

Winters here are a mixed bag, some rain, some fog and some great sunny days!
I've been spending time at the beach with Sharene and the kids.












Sharene and the kids also spent a day in Napa with mum and I. I sent the "girls" off for a manicure and Brax and I checked out the toys at Walmart.


As part of everyone's xmas present we all went to see Wicked. I love that show so fun to go with everyone.

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Slacking

Okay I've really slack on the blog this year! Getting back into it. Had a great time with mum. We did local adventures and ended up going to Napa - wine country. Adding some pics of the Wine Train we did with Karen and Brice; great food & views.
























You get to choose from a bunch of different experiences. We chose the champagne four course meal. Other options are snacks and getting on and off the train. It was really fun and the carriages were verse tastefully decorated!
More post to come with Xmas and January adventures.

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