Impetigo....

.... or something else?

About three weeks before returning to work I got two cold sores on my lower lip.  I didn't want to go back to work with a fat lip, so I speed burned it out with an overkill of Zilactin and Lysine.  The Zilactin burned and the Lysine healed, so that the sores were gone within a week.

Then I noticed a rash on my chin.  That kept getting bigger.  Ugh!

I have to back up and tell you that when I was pregnant with Helena I got a rash on my chin that the doctors diagnosed as Impetigo - a form of staph infection - that they couldn't medicate because the medicines would be harmful to my baby.  So, the rash ended up consuming my entire face by the time I had her.  I felt like SUCH A LEPER!!!  It itched and looked horrendous!

Well, this rash looked like the exact same thing!  So I went to the doctor.

I did not tell him that I had had Impetigo before, nor that a doctor had once told me that I am a staph carrier.  Yippee.

The doc looked at my rash and listened about the cold sores.  He said I had Impetigo that had been triggered by the cold sores and gave me three meds to deal with it.  The wash, the ointment, and the antibiotic pills.  The wash is Hibiclens, a pre-surgical sterile wash.  The ointment is Bactroban, a topical antibiotic.  The pill is Clyndimiacin (sp?).  He also said he was going to run lab tests for MRSA.  The antibiotic he gave me was strong enough to kill MRSA, just in case.

Well, after 10 days of washing and anointing (and feeling sick thanks to the pills),  NO CHANGE!!!

AURGH!

So, I went back to the doctor's office.  When I called and told them there was no change after 10 days of strong, strong antibiotics, they wanted me to come in right away, even though it was after hours.  This time I saw a nurse practitioner.  She said she didn't think it was Impetigo at all.  Or MRSA, for that matter... though the lab tests seem to have gotten lost in transit, because they never got them back.

She said she thought it was Peri-something-something-dermatitis (Yeah.  Like my doctor speak?) and prescribed a DIFFERENT topical ointment that she said would have it cleared up in 7 days.

So, it has been 4 days on her ointment and I begin to hope that it is working.  I am not sure, though, because I want it cleared up so much that I worry that I am a poor judge of facts at this point.  I am still taking the remainder of the antibiotic pills, too, because I have been told many times to make sure to finish a full course of any antibiotic doctors give you to prevent disease mutation.  There are still 7 more days of the antibiotic... a 20 day course!  Oi!

Hopefully I will be able to report rash free skin soon.  And it would be nice to know for sure what in the world this is!

Heavy sigh.

Mt. Ogden 100K Mountain Bike race!

We got up before the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to go give our support to Bill as he competed in the Mt. Ogden 100K mountain bike race.  It was held at the Snow Basin Ski Resort in the mountains above Ogden.  Now, I struggle to jog 5K, and here is my husband, about to race his guts out on his bike for 100K!  For those of us not on the metric system, that translates to 64 miles of riding ON MOUNTAIN SLOPES!  Ugh.  Bill is now offically crazy!  The photo above is of his bike and entry number about an hour before the start of the race.  The shotgun for the start of the race fired at 7:20 a.m.  Bill was racing in the open division, meaning that he was an amateur, not a pro.

Here is a shot of the racers gathering before the starting line.  The blow up red arch is the start.  Each racer wore a timer strapped to their ankle.  As they passed under the arch, the timer was activated and wouldn't stop running until they passed through the finish arch down in front of the lodge.


While we were waiting near the starting line, another family there asked us if we planned to stay all day.  When we said 'yes', they offered us some cow bells to ring at the finish line!  That was a fun bonus.

You can see Bill in the left side of this photo as the yellow helmet with the fluorescent yellow neck guard.  His head is between the two dudes in pink spandex.  I would not have chosen all pink, myself, but whatever!  These are only the 100K racers.  About 30 min. after this start, they started the 50K race as well. 

Right after the second shotgun blast.  To keep the racers from clumping too much, they sent them in waves.  The first wave were pro riders.  The second wave were 'expert amateurs'.  Bill went in that group.  The third wave were 'sport amateurs'.  There wasn't an ounce of flab to be seen anywhere!

Just a shot of the lodge at Snow Basin.  It was a posh building!  Ski lodges are the winter retreat for the country club set.  I didn't take any pictures inside because I simply didn't think to, but really, I am glad I didn't, because then I'd just look like the hick tourist who was unaccustomed to luxurious surroundings!

The moon above the mountain.

The kids and I wandered a bit, then hiked up onto the mountain side to try and cheer Bill on at a spot where he told us he thought he'd pass by at approximately 8:30 a.m.  We waited until 8:45 at that spot, but never saw him.  We gave up figuring he must have passed before we got there.  I found out later from the mother of another racer that she did see him (that neck flap was VERY identifiable) pass that spot at 9:15.  Drat!

At 10:00 we set up our cooler and chairs at the Feed Zone.  That was a designated spot the event coordinators created for racers and their support teams.  The cooler was full of fruit and protein bars, Bill's second Camel Back water bladder, and sodas for the kids and me.  We rang our cow bells as Bill arrived at 10:20, and we quickly gave him what he needed.  I pulled his empty water bladder out of his pack and reloaded it with the fresh one.  He really was only there for less than a minute before he was speeding off again in quest of a good time (figuratively and literally).

The jersey was my early birthday gift to him.  I gave it to him the day before the race.  It has special pockets built in the back where he stashed protein bars to eat while riding.  I was really proud of how pro he looked in it! 

The whole re-fueling felt a lot like a pit stop in a car race, with us as the pit crew.  It was only a minute, but it was a super charged minute!  Once Bill was on his way, the other people in the feed zone all complemented us on our team work and seemed mildly impressed with it.  They were also impressed that Bill didn't stop longer, since most of the 100K racers stop to eat at the half way mark. 

We stuck around at the feed zone to cheer on a couple of Bill's biking friends who were also racing.  One of them, Jack, rode his bike over to his car to eat.  Since it was only 3 cars down from ours, we went to see how he was doing.  He didn't look very good!  He was pale and actually ended up throwing up what he ate because he ate it too fast.  He decided to keep going, though he was unsure if he would be able to finish the race.  Bill had told me that Jack had never gone more than 45 miles before, so this race was extreme for him.

After seeing Bill off, we had nothing to do until 1:30 p.m.  We planned to go wait at the finish line at that time.  Meanwhile, we decided to ride the gondola lift up to the upper lodge just for the fun of it!

Helena on the gondola.  She was excited to ride it and compare the experience to riding the gondola ski lift in the Austrian Alps.  She told us that this one was newer, quieter, and had more viewing area, since the walls were made almost entirely of glass.  The lift in the alps had metal sides with windows installed.  However, she informed us that the view in Austria was much better.  Well, of course!

Will in the gondola.

Me in the gondola.  How do you like the windblown look?

Helena and I in the gondola.  The ride up took 15 minutes and ascended over 2,000 feet.  We had to adjust our ears several times.

The elevation marker on the lodge at the top.

Once again, the lodge at the top was sumptuous and grand.  There was a restaurant at the top, and one at the lower lodge as well.  We decided not to be parted from our money and just ate the junk food we brought with us.  The window in the picture is actually part of the women's restroom!  Those were some of the nicest bathrooms I have ever seen, and no, I did not take a picture of them.

Helena in the ski lodge.

Will at the ski lodge.  He didn't feel very well, and gets impatient with his touristy mom always taking pictures.  But notice what an amazing blue his eyes are?!  I did not enhance the color, either.

A view of our descent.

I told the kids to pose for a shot of the two of them together, so, of course, Helena had to ham it up right when I pushed the button!

So I made them do it again!

When we got to the bottom, we went to the finish line just in time to see the very first 100K pro racer cross the finish line.  We cheered with the rest of the crowd until 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners crossed, then went back to the car to eat our junk food lunch.  We knew Bill would not be crossing the line any time before 1:30, because he came to the feed zone (at the half way mark) after 3 hours of racing, so there was no way he would be faster on the second leg of the race than he was on the first.

At 1:30, we plopped ourselves down on the grass in the shade near the finish line and started our wait.  We cheered and rang our cow bells for any racer who came by.  They were very spread out.  There were even some of the slowest 50K racers coming in with the 100K racers. 

We saw the mom of a biker that we had met back at the starting line and again at the feed zone, and invited her to sit with us in the shade.  She is from New York happened to be visiting her son during the time of the race.  I was fun to visit with her!  As we waited we just enjoyed the sunshine and good company.  Helena even got out her physics homework and worked on it, which impressed our neighbor.

Finally, There was Bill!  I don't remember the exact time he crossed the finish line, because I was busy with cheering, taking a picture, and ringing my bell.  But his official timer recorded a race time of 6 hours and 52 minutes!  He came in 19th over all, and even beat out four of the pro riders!  Can you imagine sitting on a narrow, hard bicycle seat for close to 7 hours?!? 

He was very pleased with his time, because it was a personal record for him.

We stayed to see a couple of Bill's friends cross the line, and to see if he won anything in the raffle (he didn't).  Even Jack managed to finish the race, though he was over the 8 hour mark.  But, hey, he finished!!!  Finally, around 4 in the afternoon, we were ready to head back home, with a stop at Rubio's for dinner.

To be honest, when Bill asked me if I would come support him in this race, I was not thrilled.  His bike riding has been somewhat of a thorny subject for me and I often resent the time he spends on it.  However, it meant so much to him that I just had to go, and now I am glad I did!  I had a great day with the kids, and I was SO proud of Bill for accomplishing such a difficult thing!  Bill told me later that he got terrible cramps in the second half of the race and almost quit, but kept going because he knew we were going to be waiting for him at the finishing line.  He said we were his inspiration to keep going.

We were so wiped out, but I ended up staying up late that night while I waited for Helena to get home from a football game and a stake dance.  It ended up being a 20 hour day, but boy, was it a good one!

New School Schedules

I go back to work tomorrow.  Officially, anyways.  I have been out to my classroom several times this summer trying to get it put together.  At the end of last school year, about 9 teachers (including me) moved to different classrooms.  I hate moving my stuff!  However, I think I'm going to like my new classroom quite a bit.

But this post isn't about my new classroom.  It is about Helena's and Will's new school schedules.

Here is Helena's schedule at the high school...

1st semester

A day

11 English Honors

Latin 1

Physics

Seminary

B day

Shakespeare

Digital Photography

Orchestra

College Prep Math

2nd semester

A day

11 English Honors

Latin 1

Physics

Seminary

B day

Modern World History

Psychology

Orchestra

College Prep Math

No big surprises, really.  The high school runs their registration the same way the colleges do, so we selected this exact schedule (all the way down to which teachers she would have) last Spring.  This will be Helena's last year in orchestra.  She would have quit last year, but they are travelling to Boston to perform this year, and that sounded exciting to her.  Once she completes this schedule (and the Financial Lit class she is taking online), she will have only one required class left and 5 elective slots to fill.  She is in good shape for graduating.

Now, here is Will's schedule over at the Jr. High:

1st semester

A day

Biology

Seminary

PE

Geometry

B day

World Geography

English 9

Japanese 1

Symphonic Brass Band

2nd semester

A day

Biology

European History

Seminary

Geometry

B day

World Civ

English 9

Japanese 1

Symphonic Brass Band

You might recall Will's choice to take a history class in his elective space.  I think it was a wise decision.  I just hope that he enjoys his classes this year, since his schedule is more challenging than he has ever experienced before.  This will be his final year of band.  He is only in it under duress.  I would probably have let him quit last year, but the high school requires 1.5 credits in the arts.  He has already been in band for years, so this is the easiest way to get the lion's share of that requirement out of the way and receive a good grade for it.

Helena will be driving to school this year.  She has also offered to pick her brother up from school every day.  We made a deal that I will pay for insurance at the good student discount rate.  If she doesn't pull the grades, she will have to pay me the difference in insurance cost.  For her that is $13 a month.  Will thinks that is a raw deal, since the good student discount difference for him will be $42!  I hope neither of them will ever have to pay me!

So, summer is over... at least for me.  The kids have exactly one week left before returning to school.

Exercise aches and pains

I have been exercising a lot more lately.  A lot more.  I go to the gym nearly every day. 

Originally, I wanted to improve my 5K time, so I was working on going from a walk to a jog on the treadmill.  Before long, I was hobbling about because my heel bones hurt so much!

After a while, I changed my plan of attack.  I have read that walking is better on your joints than running or jogging, and that you can get the same benefits as long as you go the same distance.

Okay.

Now, instead of trying to run/jog a 30 min. 5K, I am speed walking 4.2 miles every day in 60 minutes.  It is longer than the 5K, but that's great.

My heels are still protesting, and now my Achilles tendons seem to be joining the complaint fest, but, surprisingly, that's it!  No shin splints.  No aches and pains anywhere else.  It is at it's worst first thing in the morning.  I limp out of bed like an old person and it is physically painful to put my weight on my feet.  The sensation fades fairly quickly, however, so I keep going back to the gym.

I have found a machine that I love!  It has a heart monitor built into the hand grips.  I set my age, weight, time, and speed into the machine and tell it whether I want a fat burn workout, or a cardio burn.  On a cardio burn, it will adjust the elevation (the machine ramps up) until my heart reaches 144 beats/min. and maintain that for the entire hour!  I rock out to my music and the machine ramps up and down to compensate.  How cool is that?!  For the fat burn it does the same thing, only it keeps my heart rate at a lower 113 beats/min.  I plan to do cardio burn M-W-F, and fat burn T-Th.

Whyfore all the exercise, you ask?  I want to get back in shape, of course!  I have only seen modest weight loss, and no inches lost, yet.  However, I feel great!  I can tell that my heart is in better shape, and I have lots of faith that I will transform myself this time.

Will's end of summer camp out

It is almost the end of summer vacation.  Just one and a half weeks for the kids, another day for me.  I have to go back to work on Monday, getting my room ready for students.  Thursday is the first day of meetings, and the following Wednesday is the first day of school.

Will has been trying to suck the marrow out of every last drop of summer this week.  He has been to the pool every day, and found time to just hang out with his friends every second of every day, too.  The other day, he and his friends were hanging out here at our house when I noticed Craig (one of the friends) toiling away with a hoe on the dirt pile in the front yard.  I thought, 'what the...?!'  I guessed they were softening up the pile so they could do some of their 'parkour' jumps on it.  I was right, but what I didn't realize was that they were jumping from the roof!  Ah!

After I put a stop to that, they came inside and went downstairs.  Next thing I know, Will is standing in the kitchen asking for a razor with his hair completely covered in shaving cream!  Apparently, his friends both shaved their legs (don't ask me why), and Will decided to one up them by shaving his head bald!  Fortunately, I was able to talk him out of it by reminding him that school is about to start and did he really want to be BALD for the first day of school?!

Anyways, I agreed that he could have his friends over for an end of summer camp out in the back yard, even though it is just dirt.  The set up the tent and roasted hot dogs and s'mores.  I gave them a case of soda and they drank the entire thing in one night.  By the end of the case they were thoroughly sick of Dr. Pepper!  (don't worry, it was caffeine free)

This shot didn't turn out because it was so dark, so I turned on the 'night portrait' feature on my camera and told the boys to hold still...

This is the result.  It is amazing to realize that this shot was taken right after the one above!

Xboxing

Will and his buddy, Dallan, playing on the Xbox this afternoon.  They are turning into long legged things, aren't they?

And, yes, those are my toes in the foreground.  Hee, hee, hee!

Will's bedroom

I cannot begin to tell you how dirty and messy my son's room was.  You can only imagine it if you have ever lived with a teen aged boy.  There was stuff everywhere!  He said it was "clean" because you could see the floor in the center of the room!  However, it smelled bad.  There were piles of dirty clothes mixed in with piles of (used to be) clean clothes.  And trash!  Don't even get me started!!!

On Monday, Will and I spent the entire day deep cleaning his room.  We threw away bags and BAGS of trash!  We gave away even more.  In fact, we filled the trunk and back seat of my car with sacks of clothes, books, and toys to give away to the DI.  (That is Deseret Industries for those of you not in the know)

When we pulled the bed away from the wall in order to clean out from under it, Will asked if we could keep it in the middle of the room.

I discovered during the cleaning that Will must have consumed the entire contents of a case of otter pops all by himself, because EVERY SINGLE WRAPPER was on the floor of his room; either in the closet or under the bed.

I said, "Sure!"  He has gotten old enough now that he really doesn't need a large amount of floor space for 'playing' anymore.  So we rearranged his room while we were at it.  Now his homework station is ready to go.  It will be harder for stuff to accumulate under his bed, because we can just clear it out with the swiffer every week.

And we moved his bean bag chair to be closer to his bookcase.  That is his bow hanging on the wall.

He has told me that his favorite color is red.  You could probably have deduced that from seeing past blog posts.  He wants to repaint his room with a red theme.  I had to tell him that it is too late this year to do so, but maybe we'll consider it for next summer.

High school fees are paid

On Monday, I got online and paid Helena's school fees for the upcoming school year.  Her fees, including her parking permit and her yearbook, totalled $252.00 this year!  Gulp! 

No, this is not private school fees.  This is public education.  Her activity fee was $30, her 'textbook rental' fee was $35, her English, Latin, and Physics classes had a $15 fee, EACH!  Orchestra was $50.  With other fees here and there, it all adds up.

All fees must be paid before students can pick up their textbooks, and before the first day of classes, which is now only two weeks away.  Students are expected to bring their textbooks to the first day of school.

I just got the fee schedule for Will in the mail the other day, too.  His fees total $181.00, including yearbook.  I'll pay his fees next weekend.  Fortunately, the junior high doesn't expect us to go in and pick up textbooks in advance of the school year.  They just want the fees paid before the first day of class.

Non of this includes extra curricular stuff, of course.  Helena has mentioned an interest in joining the girls golf team, and Will wants to join the High School Ski Team with his buddy, Dallan.  Does the school even HAVE a ski team?!? Oi!

Home made beauty treatments

Helena had made a list of home made beauty treatments and wanted to try them out.  I thought that sounded like lots of fun!  She chopped and mixed and blended away, then came in and painted it on my face to be left there for an hour!  This mixture is cucumber and lemon juice.  It was a pretty sight, non?  I could actually feel it reacting on my face the way a store bought mask would!  She also made an olive oil/sugar scrub that she is keeping in her bathroom.

Unbelievable weather today!

I slept in this morning.  When I got up and checked my facebook newsfeed, I saw all sorts of comments about a severe thunder storm that occurred this morning at about 5:30.  I had slept right through it!  Drat!  I like thunderstorms.

It was warm and sunny in the early afternoon, so Helena helped me hose off the back patio, to try to limit the amount of dust and dirt being tracked into the house.  I couldn't help noticing the dark and lowering clouds growing to the West.  Not 20 minutes after we finished cleaning off the back patio, the storm clouds unleashed a torrent of rain and hail.  Yes, I said HAIL!  In August!!

The back yard quickly filled with water.  Will and his best friend, Dallan, had been playing outside and quickly came in laughing and complaining that the hail hurt when it hit.  It was really pelting down!

Helena holding some hail in her hand to show how big the pieces were.

After the hail had finally subsided it continued to rain.  Helena decided to go stand in the road and let the summer rain drench her.  When she was little, she used to love to go 'puddle stomping' right after summer rain storms.

While the boys were waiting for the storm to subside, they went in and had a snack.  After the rain had stopped, they went out to the back yard and got literally COATED in mud!  I can't help but wonder if Dallan's mother gets frustrated with how dirty he is when he comes home from spending the day over here.  Those boys just seem to revel in dirt.  I am not kidding when I say that they get filthy every time they get together.  I am glad, though.  Someday they will grow too old for playing in the mud, but it doesn't have to be today!

So, we thought we were done with storm for the day.  Will and Dallan headed off to scouts, and Helena decided to drive herself off to young women's.  However, just as she was heading out, the sky unzipped AGAIN!  Only this time the hail was even BIGGER!!!  It was pelting down so hard she was afraid it would damage the car.  Actually, she got sent out on a few errands today and told me of street lights being out, traffic being snarled something fierce, and fender benders.  I had sent her off in the Expedition, so I wasn't concerned for her ability to navigate the storm, but I did worry about other people's driving skills, or lack thereof.

One of the hail stones from the second (or, I guess it was the third) storm.  The dirt on it is from the yard, not the sky.

Bill told me when he got home that all the Christmas lights on the house had been smashed by the hail stones, and that there were bitty shards of colorful glass all  around the perimeter of the house.  Why are there Christmas lights on the house in August, you ask?  Because they never got taken down last winter.  Who in the world wants to climb up on the roof in the freezing cold and snow to do such an unpleasant task?  So, they remained.  Now we'll have to climb up there and remove their remains, I suppose.

Amazing Sunset!

Last night Bill called us all outside to see the most amazing sunset clouds I have ever seen!  They were right above us and just GLOWED!  I got lots of shots and have even submitted one of them (this one, in fact) to a commercial photo web site for consideration as a stock photo.  If they accept it (and the other two photos I submitted), then I might make a leetle bit of money from it.  Wish me luck!

A 'Stream' in the backyard

Bill spent a large part of last Saturday working on the yard with heavy equipment.  He hauled in dirt and shifted rocks for a large part of that hot, hot day!  When he was ready to be done for the day, he needed to water settle the new dirt level in the back yard.  In the past he has simply put the sprinkler on it and let it run for several hours.  This time, he did something very fun!

We are creating a dry 'creek bed' in one of the planters as a bit of visual interest.  Bill laid out the heavy plastic that will go underneath the river rocks I plan to put there and weighted it down with some of the bigger rocks to keep it in place temporarily.  The plastic is to prevent weeds from growing in my 'creek'.

Well, to do the water settling this time, Bill wedged the hose into some of the big rocks piled at one end of my 'creek' and turned it on full blast!  The result was a rock waterfall fountain that fed my 'creek' and splashed down into the dirt that needed settling.  So, even though it will probably never happen again, for one evening I had a fully functioning water feature in my back yard!

Will and I stayed out in the yard enjoying the 'waterfall' and 'creek' until it got dark.

Someday there will be more visual interest with a bridge over the 'creek' just to the right of those stairs you see in the picture, and lots of plants, of course!