Update on my "nerve lesion". (It's not a nerve lesion!)

On Friday afternoon, I went to the doctor and got pretty good news, as far as doctors are concerned. I was getting my leg checked out by my PCP.

My leg was very angered two weeks ago when I went to urgent care. I had been kneeling on the ground working on a sign for my show, and instead of just the stretchy skin feeling I had been getting for the past week or so, that are of my leg began to feel numb. The short story is I thought I had a blood clot, but instead the doctor at urgent care diagnosed me with "popliteal nerve lesion of the lower left limb". I was to take some NSAIDs, and if it didn't get better, follow up with my PCP.

My PCP listened to everything I had to say, took a look at my leg, and said it seemed more like a nerve entrapment to her and not a nerve lesion. Nerve entrapment is fancy doctor speak for a pinched nerve. She told me a pinched nerve is something that just needs time to resolve itself. I'm to keep taking NSAIDs because that will help the inflammation. But other than that, I'm just supposed to contact her if it gets worse, it's spreads, or anything out of the ordinary begins to happen.

Roger that!

She knows I run about five days a week and didn't mention anything about stopping running. I told her I don't feel it when I run, my legs don't feel weak, and I'm not changing my gait at all. Because of that, she didn't see running as a problem.

Now of course if I find that running bothers it, I will have to reevaluate whether to run or not. But for now, the only thing that angers it is kneeling on the floor with my bum on my heels. And when I say "angers" it, I mean it starts to feel even more numb and I get more of an awareness. It has never ever hurt.

This was a much better doctor's visit than when I went to urgent care for several reasons. First of all, this doctor was better able to explain what was going on. But of course I had specific questions prepared this time, so I'm not blaming the first doctor for anything at all. I just felt more comfortable after talking it over with my PCP.

Also, I left urgent care with information about prehypertension, but didn't get any of that at this visit. I tried very hard to calm down when they took my blood pressure at my PCP's office and it was a little lower- 133/74.

Another reason my urgent care visit sucked was because I accidentally saw my weight on my visit summary they printed out for me. At my PCP appointment, I told them I didn't want my summary. Woo! 

Of course I wish I didn't have a pinched nerve, but at least I got some info and a plan of action. I want to go google "pinched nerve" but sometimes googling doesn't ease one's mind, it makes things worse!

Have you ever had a pinch nerve?
Should I google or just leave it alone?

Weekly Workouts

I ran.... 19 miles.
I hiked... 4 miles.
I lifted... 3 days.
I tapped... 0.

Saturday- Hiking 4(ish) miles @ King's Gap. The trails were a little hard to follow but it was very pretty! We will be back.

Sunday- 9 mile run @ Swatara State Park. My dad's friend Clayton organized this run. He wanted to see how fast he could run the 8.6 mile trail loop. He did it in about an hour and 5 minutes! I'm not sure how long it took me but my pace was 9:52, so quite a lot longer! I love this trail, and even though I was running alone most of the time, I had fun. Normally I would run this slower but I didn't want to be out by myself forever, so I pushed the pace. On the way to the run, I felt a slight PIMA. Very weird this PIMA has been popping up for 2 days, disappearing, then popping up again! Later in the day, I felt my adductors on my right side were a little sore. Maybe I strained them on the run? Strange!

Monday- Lifting back at home. PIMA still there. Still felt my adductors a bit. I did 18 unassisted pull ups! (Not in a row, but still the most I ever did in one day!)

Tuesday- 6 neighborhood miles. My adductor started talking to me at mile ONE and felt tight from mile three until the end. Freaking A.

Wednesday- Lifting chest @ home. I was still a little sore from my back workout! Work was crazy because we had musical rehearsal all day, so by the time I got home I felt so tired and achy, as if I did a long run or something! I skipped tap class because I was so exhausted!

Thursday- Lifting back @ home. Wanted to give my adductor some healing time.

Friday- 4 miles. I was nervous to test out the 'ol adductor but it was feeling good. I stopped at 4 miles because I wanted to end on a high note! Hopefully I can run tomorrow a full six miles without it coming back. Wish me luck!

I know I tend to be overly cautious, but I can always run more, I can't run LESS and undo damage!

Are you overly cautious, the right amount of cautious, or not cautious at all?

5 Things I Felt Guilty About This Week

Hey all! I am linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for Friday 5 2.0!

Today I'm going to share 5 things that made me feel guilty this week. I was going to share 5 highlights, but around Wednesday night, I realized I didn't have any highlights yet... and I only had one more day to go. It was very unlikely 5 awesome things were going to happen in one day!

But oh, guilt happens all the time. This week, I felt guilty about...

1. Losing my patience at work. Sometimes, losing patience is justified. There are certain things that no one has the patience for... But I am so impatient that I cannot discern what is justified and what isn't!

2. Stuffing my face with half a box of wheat thins on Tuesday night. It was my dinner though...

3. Skipping tap class. I came home from work EXHAUSTED and borderline sick on Wednesday. I just had no energy. I was scared they would call me and say, "Where are you!!??"

4. Throwing a banana peel away in someone's classroom. I knew it was probably going to be smelly the next day, but I was too lazy to walk somewhere else to throw it away. If your room smelled like banana on Thursday morning, it's my fault. Sorry.

5. Locking Chrissy in the bedroom for three hours on Tuesday. He bit me on Monday, and I wanted to make sure he was totally back to normal, so I had to lock him away while my piano students were at my house on Tuesday evening. He can bite me but he CAN'T BE BITING CHILDREN!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you feeling guilty about anything?
Have any fun weekend plans? I DO! And I WON'T feel guilty about living it up!

Chrissy bit me again.

Chrissy bit me again. Luckily this was not as ruthless of a bite as the first two. If you want to hear about the first two bites, read this post. It's actually really entertaining.

So here's the story about bite #3...

On Monday night, I went into the sun room to get my laptop cord. The room was dark and I didn't turn on a light. I slammed my foot into the side table. I groaned and whimpered pretty loudly because it really hurt it!

Chrissy heard me and came trotting into the room. He ran right over, looked up at me, (I'm only seeing his outline, not his facial expressions because it's dark.) and licked my calf. Awwwww that's sweet, I thought to myself. He must really love me and want me to feel better!

Then Jelly trotted into the room and ran right up to us. For some reason, Christmas hissed at him. I think it's because we had the windows open all day and whenever they get a taste of that fresh, outside air, they get a little... animalistic.

I tried to diffuse the situation by walking out of the room and saying, "Come on guys! Be nice!" in my high pitched voice. They both followed me out of the room and all seemed fine.

But I forgot to grab my laptop cord. So I went back into the sun room and walked over to get my cord- over to where I slammed my foot and let out my pitiful whimpers.

Chrissy ran right back over to me, and since I had turned on the light, I could see the look on his face. He was alarmed. And I knew that look. It was the look he gave me right before he bit me the first two times...

He jumped up and bit me. Luckily, he didn't do it hard, and he got the side of my knee where it's sort of hard and the teeth can't go down too far. He definitely could have got me harder if he wanted to. I would call this... a warning bite.

I stayed calm. The last thing to do is flip out. He had bit me and he still looked pretty alarmed. He was scared of something. For some reason, he must have afraid of that area of the room where I made that loud noise and groaned.

I didn't stare him in the eyes, I did get defensive or aggressive. Believe me, it was hard. I calmly took a pillow off the couch and held it. I planned to use it to protect myself in case he attacked again. I slowly, but purposefully walked out of the room, trying to act as normal as possible. If I acted weird, it would scare him.

I went into the bedroom and shut the door. Then I called Paul on my cell (he was in the basement.) I told him. "Come upstairs and feed the cats. Just trust me. Act normal."

Paul came up with his purposeful footsteps and opened the fridge. I heard both cats meow and run to the kitchen. FOOD fixes everything! Just that smell of wet food calmed Chrissy down. Both kitties ate, then Chrissy curled up on the guest bed and went to sleep.

I kissed him goodnight because I love him.

Update: My leg is a little black and blue and sore from the bite, but not infected or anything.

Did you ever get bit by an animal?

What's the scariest thing your fur baby did?

The most stressful week in the life of a music teacher!

One of the perks of being a music teacher is that my students get to perform and display their talents for their friends and families! Over the past twelve years, my students have performed at Harrisburg Senators baseball games, special events at local businesses, and of course at our schools. I've directed choirs, show choirs, recorder bands, and school wide shows that included anywhere from 250-400 students!

Every other year, my elementary school puts on a "musical" that features all 3rd and 4th grade students- around 250 kids. Each year I pick a theme. This year, it's Rock and Roll! They're performing songs like Jailhouse Rock, Splish Splash, Rockin' Robin, and Surfin' USA. We have been rehearsing in music class pretty much ever since we came back from winter break. We are READY!

This week, we are finally able to rehearse on the stage. This is when all the final details come together... who stands where, how can we get 250 kids on the stage as quickly as possible, etc, etc, etc. I like being in charge but it is stressful. It's one of the most stressful weeks ever!

But that's the life of a music teacher! Even though this week is going to force me to be calm and patient, it is all going to pay off on Thursday night when the students get to be SUPER STARS and show off all of their hard work!

Is there a particularly stressful week or time of the year for your job?

Weekend Wrap Up (Part 2)

Happy TUESDAY!

Part 1 of my long weekend is recapped here! Today, I'll show you what we were up to on Easter, and my extra day off on Monday!

I hope your week is starting off well! My week is going to be crazy. More on that TOMORROW!

I got up at the butt crack of dawn (okay, 6:30!) to meet a couple runners at Swatara State Park for 9 miles around the mountain bike loops. I ran faster than normal. It was a good workout.

Then I drove straight to my parent's house. (Paul came with his parents later.) My mom hosts Easter every year for her extended family and my dad's as well. There's usually a lot of people but they tend to come in shifts. Since the weather was nice, we got to sit outside so it was nice. I loved visiting with my family!

Of course we did an egg hunt...

I. CAN'T. TAKE. HOW. FREAKING. CUTE. SHE. IS.

Since cousin Alex (age 27) hadn't been to Easter in about 5 years, we decided to hide some eggs for him! Tyler took extra care to make the eggs as hard to find as possible!

Obviously, this task was no match for Cornell graduate and engineer, Alex Martino!

Mom took some of us over to the Gallery on the Square to check it out.

I finally bought a bracelet I have had my eye on! If you like this handmade wrap bracelet, check out McConnell Jewelry Designs. I am in love with this bracelet!

Paul brought a batch of the chili he plans to enter in the Cherry Blossom Festival Chili Cook Off. It was met with rave reviews!

Debby and Clark!

 Auntie Eileen and Uncle Rick!

Me and my Auntie Eileen!

Cousin Brian and Cousin Alex attempt to juggle...

Grandpa, Nanny, and the grandkids!

We were basically there all day. It was one of the best Easters in awhile!

MONDAY

I was feeling pretty BLAH on Monday, which may have been related to getting my period the day before. Lately, I have felt borderline sick on the first day. But I was determined to have a good Monday.

I lifted back at home. I switched up my pull ups and did them all unassisted today! I managed to do 3 sets with 4 reps, and then 2 more sets with 3 reps. I just couldn't get up to 4 the last two times! I was very proud of myself though. I never did 18 unassisted pull ups all in one workout!

Then I ran some errands, which included getting some "beauty" products. Rachel showed me how to wear eye shadow, so I got some.

I also needed a hair straightener. My hair grows fast! It's only been two weeks since I got it cut, and it's long enough in the front to flip out, as seen in the pic of me and Auntie Eileen. I tested it out and I think it's going to work!

Paul and I spent a lot of time doing yard work. I love to weed, and I got to weed my whole garden! It was very satisfying.

Paul cleaned the gutters and mowed the lawn. The outside of our house is no longer in shambles!

The rest of the night was spent relaxing while watching Seinfeld and eating dinner. I made a huge plate of quinoa, zuke, brussel sprouts, and chicken!

If you celebrate, what did you do for Easter?
Do you like to do yard work?
Do you ever straighten your hair?

Weekend Wrap Up! (Part 1)

Happy MONDAY!

Due to the Easter holiday, we had an extra long four day weekend. Today I'm actually still enjoying a day off! I decided to break my wrap up into two parts because we had a lot going on that would be fun to share with you!

I definitely felt like a blogger this weekend... taking tons of pictures and all that stuff!

THURSDAY

Thursdays are usually a day I dread (work and then six piano lessons straight through until 7pm), but this Thursday was different! This Thursday was my “Friday” due to having off for Easter Break the next day. And instead of a bunch of piano lessons after school, I only had three and I’d be done at 5:30!

My day started with lifting upper body at home. I opened the windows so the kitties hung out with me most of the time. Normally they sleep all morning.

For reasons I shouldn’t share, I was anticipating work to be horrible. Luckily, it turned out to be a good day! The kids were well behaved, especially considering they were excited for Easter.

I even finished my sign for our show next week. This sign took me HOURS. It’s the best I can do!

I got a lot of compliments on my outfit so I thought I’d show it to you!

After piano lessons, Paul and I went for a short walk. We love looking at all the different houses in our neighborhood. Then we ate dinner at watched Bates Motel. After that, I was a complete bad ass by staying up until past midnight doing a puzzle and watching the new Casey Anthony documentary.

"Friends, the devil is dancing tonight." -Nancy Grace

I forgot to turn my alarm off so it went off at 5:30. Luckily, I remembered right away that I had the day off. I swiped the alarm off and fell right back asleep until Jelly woke me at 10:30.

I ran six miles. It was so warm! 

While I was sleeping and running, Paul was making his second batch of "test chili" for the Millersburg Cherry Blossom Festival Chili Cook Off he is entering in May. His first batch was good but nothing to write home about. This second batch? It was so good I whimpered. HE IS GOING TO WIN!

That afternoon, we headed over the Harrisburg to see an IMAX movie at The Whitaker Center. We parked on City Island and walked. It was absolutely gorgeous out!

The movie was National Parks Adventure 3D and it was really good. I spent the first 10 minutes of the movie weeping because it was so beautiful. I know, I'm so weird!

That evening, we went over to Randy and Michael's for a steak dinner. Their friends Desiree and Sean came over too. The food was delicious! Then we played games and laughed the night away.

We slept in and then headed to King's Gap for a HIKE! It was really pretty but the trails were a little hard to follow. At one point we had to walk on the road because we didn't know where to go. I would like to go back when we have some more time!

Then Rachel came over to do my hair and makeup while Paul and Bob went to Lowe's to buy us an energy efficient washer. It comes a week from today!

Rachel did a good job with my hair...

Then Paul and I headed to Kohl's because I determined I was in need of some basic summer tops. I ended up getting a cute cold shoulder top! What do you think?

I got these shorts...

I tried on linen pants... they were all high waisted and WAY too long!

I tried on the Under Armor joggers I really like but they just weren't flattering. They look okay in this picture but in person... I am not liking the high waisted style. It makes me look big in the middle!

I'm trying a new brand of candles to cover up the lingering pee smell that sometimes exists in our house. These were only $9.99 each and they smell really good. It is the Kohl's brand.

Well, that was our Thursday, Friday, and Saturday! Tomorrow I will recap Easter and Monday. I am pretty tired though... hopefully I can make the most of my last day off before HELL WEEK! (The week of my musical at school.)

Tell me something fun you did this weekend!
Have you seen any good IMAX movies?
What's your favorite brand of candles?