Running Update

This has not been the most productive year thus far. I started out with a great enthusiasm to overcome my sloth, started making some minor progress, then was completely sidetracked by getting sick. I honestly haven't run since .... I don't even know. It's been a little more than 4 weeks I guess!?! I was doing a few training runs, going very slow but at least doing it, but that respiratory infection just killed it. Even after I got over the raging fever and inability to get out of bed, the slightest bit of exertion would bring on a horrible coughing fit, as would breathing in cold air. I would say that I'm pretty well cured now, but of course I've been working my tail off trying to make up for the hours I called in sick.

Anyway, the bummer of it all is that this weekend is the Little Rock Marathon. I had switched my entry to the half near the end of the year because I was kidding myself if I thought I was going to be ready for the full mary. After having some rocky starts in my training, I had lowered my expectations and just hoped for a fun run/walk and wasn't going to stress about my time. Now, I'm not even sure how well I could walk the damn thing. The last thing I need is something to show me how much I suck, so I've decided to just forgo the whole thing and take the opportunity to cheer BJ for his first half-mary. I've also signed up to volunteer the Expo and give a little back to the running community.

I'm really excited for BJ! He hasn't completely stuck to his training, but overall he has done well. He ran a 15K race two weeks back which was the farthest he had ever run, and he did it with quite a bit of ease which really surprised him. Instead of feeling like a failure for not taking part, I'm going to be happy that I can have the chance to really support him in his first long distance race, as well as cheer on the other runners.

There's always next year to look forward to because Little Rock really puts on one hell of a race and their medals are second to none!!

Is there a doctor or nurse in the room???

I'm currently at the airport in St Louis waiting for my flight home after a busy weekend of Pi Phi Leadership training. I recently assumed the position of advisory committee chairperson so I am now advising the chapter president which puts me in a very different leadership role. I was very excited about the opportunity to receive training as well as network with other Pi Phi advisers from across the country. It is always exciting to look around and see the incredible diversity amongst our advisers as well as our collegiate presidents (who also attended). I would challenge anyone who was at that hotel to say that we were a group of "blonde haired, blue eyed Barbies" because in our organization, those days have long been over.

I'm really excited about taking on this role because it's propelling me back into a world that I love (that of a Greek organization) and giving me an opportunity to showcase skills that I used in former careers, but haven't needed in my current profession. Another thing I have to mention, is that for those of you who have stereotypes of Greek letter organizations, I can say with complete confidence that we are advising and holding our girls to high standards in regards to their values, their grades and their service to others. The Presidents that I met were outstanding examples of young women and spoke about amazing programs that they are doing in their chapters and on their campus and I know that we are not the only Greek letter organization to emphasize these values for their young women.

So anyway, at dinner last night, one of the national officers comes to the microphone and asks, "is there a doctor or nurse in the room??" In my skirt and high heels I quickly stood up and offered my services. Sure I may be a baby nurse, but I'm well equipped to deal with any first aid or response situation - just ask BJ about the times I've made him pull over when we saw a car wreck on the road.

Luckily, there was no blood, gore or heart attacks, just two sick collegians far from home and not knowing what to do. After assessing their symptoms and realizing that they were in fact not needing any immediate medical attention, I sent them back to their rooms with instructions to take some Advil, drink plenty of fluids and get some sleep. It's always nice to provide some comfort and assistance when I can, hone those motherly skills, and basically rack up some brownie points for heaven :)

Speed Thee My Arrow

You're probably thinking .... "Wow has Jenn fallen off the face of the earth??? Been abducted by aliens??"

I'm sorry my friends, the answer is no - Jenn just has been having a hard time getting back to normal after being sick. I'm FINALLY feeling better and getting caught up on housework, real work and my life. I really hate being sick and all my love to BJ who has been so sweet and caring!! You ROCK!

For my first non-sick post, it's time to unleash a deep, dark secret that only a few of my friends are privy to. I know that some of you will be shocked ... but the truth is ...
I am a sorority girl.

Not your typical sorority girl of course, I mean I rushed in my Doc Martens for goodness sakes!! I pledged Pi Beta Phi back at Illinois State in '93. They were an amazingly diverse group of women, everything from the typical blonde cheerleader type, to the wanna be hippy chics, to the average, everyday college student. Our house wasn't one that fit into a stereotype which was something that I really liked about being a member. My best friends from college to this day are my Pi Phi sisters, and the connection even led to my becoming excellent friends with fellow blogger JCR years after college when we were both in Colorado - despite the fact that we never hung out while in school.

Not only am I a sorority type, but 15 years later I'm still involved. I have volunteered as an alumnae advisor at the University of Colorado, the University of Missouri and now the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. I really have a great time working with the college age women, and my time at the three schools has only reinforced the idea that there is no "typical" sorority or sorority girl.

Yesterday, I decided it was time for the girls of Arkansas Beta to have a tradition from my chapter, arrow sugar cookies with pink icing. I have my cool new KitchenAide mixer, my old arrow cookie cutter that I've been using as a Christmas ornament since college, and three tubs of pink vanilla icing!! I even pulled down one of my old Pi Phi sweatshirts to commemorate the occasion.

One small confession .... I've never successfully rolled out cookies. The last time I tried many years ago, I disctinctly recall being unable to get the process to work and ending up swearing A LOT - and just rolling them into balls and saying "screw it!!!"

This time however, it was quite a succeess! BJ ever so kindly assisted with the process and we had 8 dozen arrows in no time!! The girls really loved them and all in all it was a great day!

Still alive

Thank you for all of the well wishers out there in blogland! I am most definitely feeling better, but I'm still not 100% yet. This thing has really kicked my butt and I feel like I'm completely off track with my running and my training. It's been very frustrating because I don't like being sick, and I don't know when I'll really feel like running again given that I still have a nasty, deep chest cough.

Oh well, I guess on the bright side I now found a local doctor so if I'm needing something in the future, I know where to go.

Yes, I went to the doctor

I knew that I needed to go to a doctor at work Monday night, so I asked one of my nurse friends for her recommendation of a family practice office. They don't have any "urgent care" or "walk in" places here (which I think is weird) and I'm sure most of you know that getting care in an ER should only be attempted when you have giant, penetrating, sucking wounds or limbs falling off. The new doctor's office was able to get me in that afternoon and they took down all of my insurance and personal info over the phone so we wouldn't have to mess with it when I got there. During the day I was in more misery with temps up to 102.5 and the general inability to sit up without BJ's assistance. At the doctor's office I had to fill out an 8, yes 8, page health history form. Wow! They wanted to have me figured out by the time the doc walked in the door!!!

I got a flu screen (i.e. q-tip showed deep up inside the nares of my nose), some blood work, and a physical assessment with the determination of a respiratory infection. The nurse was convinced it was flu, but I knew it wasn't, I know hallmark flu signs and I didn't have them. The doc started me on antibiotics because my white count was high and I was having fever again and he also gave me some hydrocodone for my cough - I LOVE this doctor!!!

I will allegedly feel better in 24 - 48 hours after starting on my antibiotics. I'll let you know.

P.S. We had no tornadoes around here.

Continued Misery

I just can't seem to shake this cold, flu, pneumonia, whatever the heck it is!! I haven't had a fever since Friday so I thought I was well on the road to recovery, but now it's s ettled firmly in my chest. Every breath I take causes pain in my right upper lobe, and everytime I cough, I have to splint myself to stop the stabbing pain. I've had chest colds before but this is different. Usually I have snotty head and nose and it then runs down my chest, but this time the course was so different. I've not had a very stuffy head, and my chest has just felt tight. When the stabbing pain developed in that specific part of my lung tonight, I finally realized that I might have a pneumonia. I've never had pneumonia before, I listened to my breath sounds trying to discern crackles (it's a hallmark of pneumonia) but I think I'll have to break down and actually go to a doctor.

Even though I'm a nurse, I'm not big on doctor's. I firmly believe that most sniffles are just viruses that your body needs to fight off and no antibiotics are truly going to help that. It might make you feel better to take a pill - that placebo effect, but in general most upper respiratory infections are not bacterial ... same with ear infections, and overuse of antibiotics has not resulted in virulent drug resistant strains that are quite scary.

So we'll see what happens, hopefully I can convince them to give me a chest x-ray - who cares about the copay or cost. I'm just tired of being sick.

Tasty Cake!!

To answer the first question, yes I'm feeling better. My fever finally broke last night and though my temperature is normal, I still feel kindof crappy. Despite that, I had to suck it up this morning and pack for our trip to Fayetteville. One of BJ's mother's friends is hosting a shower for me on Saturday and if a complete stranger is going our of her way to have a little gathering, then I need to make the best of it. I should mention that I'm really not the shower type, as a matter of fact I was rather pleased that the type of wedding we are having (i.e. not really having one) was conducive to avoiding showers. BJ warned me early on that his mother's bridge group would want to have one and that I should, "not fight it and just go get our schwag!" So a shower in Fayetteville it is, and then on Monday a shower at BJ's work. I can't wait to see what kind of householdy goodness the next three days produce!!

Since we were going to be in NW Arkansas, we thought it would be a good time to order our cake. Despite how simple we are doing things, I insisted that BJ and I have tasty cake to eat from a real baker ... none of the grocery store crap. One of the nurses I work with turned me on to a little cake shop up in Springdale, and when we were here for Christmas we went in and bought some petit fours which were DELICIOUS!!

BJ called earlier in the week to see about meeting with the baker, but she doesn’t take appointments on Friday - he was able to sweet talk her explaining that we aren't local. He also explained that we were looking at a small cake, no big fancy cake to feed 50 people that would just get us REALLY fat! Anyway, we showed up today and the owner was as sweet as can be! She even brought our samples for us to taste which was completely unexpected ... it's not like we were spending tons of money. We ended up choosing an amazing filling called "hummingbird" which is a raspberry lemon concoction, with orange cake. It's going to be so unique and tasty! Of course the outside of the cake will be purple, with white piping and edible rhinestones. It's going to be delicious AND pretty!!

This was by far the most enjoyable part of the wedding planning, now if only my dress had an elastic waist we could eat the whole thing in one sitting :)