15k for 35

I've always wanted to be a runner, but I've never really put that much effort into it. When I dated a guy who was a legit runner (like wake-up-and-run-a-marathon legit runner), I thought it would magically rub off on me.

It didn't.

Lofty goals I made of running longer and longer distances until I finally made it to a marathon. That was well over ten years ago and the longest distance I made it up to was a 10k....way back in 2010.

I made another lofty goal a couple years ago when I made my 35 by 35 list - run a marathon by my 35th birthday. It's six months away, and running a marathon doesn't seem likely.

But running a 15k isn't so far-fetched. And it just so happens that every year during Germanfest in Muenster, TX, (which, being at the end of April is right around my birthday) they have a 15k Fun Run.

I am going to do this 15k. It's the perfect goal for my 35th birthday. Tonight I started by doing Run 1 in the Couch to 5k app. I have used this app before but have never made it through the entire series.

This means I will have to run (and again, I use the term run very loosely) in the cold, dark winter months. Wish me luck. And please help me stay on track.

Fire Ants Part II

Fire ants are the worst. Even worse: being allergic to them. Which I discovered today that I am.

My first interaction with them was awful, but normal. My second interaction with them my foot swelled up. My third interaction, today, I had a severe allergic reaction.

I was out with a colleague discussing a new sidewalk project we would be collaborating on. I stepped into the grass for just a moment, but it was a moment too long. I felt a sharp bite on my toe and feared the worst. When I walked away and checked my foot I had five or so ants crawling on my toes. They had already bit me. Now back in my office, I started scratching my foot profusely because these things start itching fast.

Then my eyes started itching. I went into the bathroom to wash my hands and my eyes were not only itchy, they were red. Then my whole body started itching - my back, my chest, my head. And my face was starting to get red, too, along with swelling. My ears felt hollow and were each a bright red.

I was starting to panic. This was definitely not normal. I decided I needed to get to a medical professional. All my close friends at City Hall have left, my friend that works nearby at TWU rides her bike to work (yay!). I thought about asking my boss, but when I walked by his office his boss was in there. I knew he had an important meeting at lunch (it was 11 am) so I didn't bother to ask him (he would have done it in a heartbeat because he's a fantastic boss; just last week he helped me change my flat tire and fix my license plate).

I had a meeting at 11:15 with our website guy, so I went to his office and told him I had to cancel because I was having an allergic reaction to fire ants. It was obvious by my face, so he urged me to go the Clinic. I got in my car and drove myself to the clinic.

I admit that I sped. I don't normally speed, but I felt like at any moment my eyes or throat could swell up. The itching was getting out of hand at this point, and my heart was racing. I was scared and stressed. When I'd scratch my head I could feel little bumps all over it. Everything itched and my face was more red and more swollen.

I arrived at the Clinic and they immediately put me in a wheelchair and took me to the ER, realizing I needed more care than they could provide. They were so sweet and awesome and I will not forget that. I was checked in and two nurses immediately went to work on me (yay nurses!!). One asked me questions and got me ready while the other put a needle in my arm. I was rather emotional and felt like crying, but somehow held it in. When the one asking questions went to put the BP cuff on my arm she noticed a huge rash on the underside of my arm. We then checked my stomach and, yep, more rash. She decided something had to be done now so she went ahead and gave me some steroids, benadryl, and pepsid intravenously right then.

Can you see how red my right foot is?

This photo is so unflattering, but this is what I looked like. You can't tell, but I was extremely red. I felt like my face was ten times bigger than normal. 

It had an almost immediate affect, and I could feel my body relaxing. It also created a cold sensation and I asked for blankets. She brought me two warm blankets and it was heaven! She left me there so the drugs could do their work (and sleep, since the benadryl makes most people drowsy). The Nurse Practitioner from the clinic who had got me into a wheelchair (and is my PCP) came to check on me and it warmed my heart.

In between sleeping I texted a couple people. First an update to my friend Stephanie, who had first suggested to me a couple months ago after my foot swelled that I was probably allergic to fire ants. I wish she could have been there with me, because she is a fantastic, calming friend (she works for FEMA so she's down in Houston). I texted my boss so he would know why I wasn't there. Unfortunately, FYI was auto corrected to dying and I had to send a reply saying I was definitely not dying. The coworker that I cancelled the meeting with also texted to check in on my. He felt bad that he hadn't offered to give me a ride and he was concerned if I had made it.

The PA came into explain to me that this is how allergic reactions start - not on the first bite or incident, but a progression of worse reactions. That is exactly what I experienced. The nurse recommended I get an epi-pen, since my next reaction would likely be worse. This scares me because fire ants are basically everywhere.

I was discharged and came home. My face has finally gone back to normal after feeling puffy most of the afternoon and evening. I am completely fine, just a little drained from the crazy day. My boss called me later to check in on my. Several friends texted to make sure I was okay. It was scary, being at the hospital alone was stressful, but everyone there was extremely helpful and I was in good hands.

Little Kitty Update

Turns out little kitty, who I had named Blackberry Jam, is actually a boy. A series of events led me to google "how to tell sex of kitten", and after that it was obvious that Blackberry Jam was a boy.

The name just didn't fit anymore, so I changed it to Chance. And that name is entirely fitting for this cute little cat that I took a chance on.

Chancey is adorable. 

He's also incredibly annoying. He wants to play with the blinds. All of the time, which includes when I am trying to go to sleep. He wants to attack Biscuit. All of the time, but occasionally lets Biscuit lick him. He wants to play with my bare feet. All of the time. Earlier this week I bought a new toy for him to play with since, unlike Biscuit, he doesn't want to sleep all the time. Even though I likes the toy and plays with it a lot, he still also likes the blinds and my feet and Biscuit.

It can be exhausting. Having a kitten is extremely different than my older cat. But I love him. He has come a long way from the scraggly, tiny kitten found at City Hall.

The Fam in Texas

When Ivy and I left New York, she had a huge issue getting out due to earlier storms in the Atlanta area. It was so awful (for real, it took her a whole twenty-four hours to get home to Seattle after leaving our hotel room) that Delta gave her a voucher. Well, they technically gave me the voucher because I paid for the ticket, but it was in Ivy's name and only she could use it. Since I was already planning on Em coming down for the Matchbox Twenty concert, I decided to have Ivy come down, too. And might as well have my mom come as well to make it a full girls' weekend. 

Em and mom arrived Friday afternoon and we went straight from the airport to Austin (for the Matchbox Twenty concert). Ivy flew into Austin just before midnight. Then we drove all the way back to Denton that night. I stayed awake by listening to various Broadway soundtracks. I put on Twentyone Pilots just before getting to Denton and Ivy woke up to sing-along with me. We got home about 3:15 a.m., but it was worth it to be home and already in Denton. 

We tried our best to sleep in on Saturday, but I have a lot of windows and once that morning sun starts shining it's hard to keep the eyes shut. No big deal though, because our plan was just to hang out in Denton that day. We went to the Square and had lunch at Mellow Mushroom and ice cream at Beth Marie's. We almost didn't make it through ice cream - we were all so tired! So we came back home and all took a nap before going on a evening walk. We closed out the day with a rousing game of Phase 10, which mom won. 

The next we took the train to the State Fair of Texas! I was very excited to share this event with my family; it's kind of a big deal. The first thing we did was get a Fletcher's corn dog. Well, Em has an aversion to hot dogs so she didn't get one. And neither did my mom. Their loss. These corn dogs are seriously delicious. We also tried out this year's new food: fried Fruit Loops. They were okay, but I preferred my fried desserts to be chocolate based. 

We checked out the museums before heading to the Pan Am Arena for the pig races. Except they ended at two and the three p.m. show would be a rodeo/stampede. It was fine, but the pig races are more fun. We checked out the livestock before getting a second round of food. We caught a pet show with all kind of rescued pets - cats, dogs, birds, a porcupine - which was cute and fun. 

I made sure we all got a nutty ice cream bar before we made our way to the car exhibits. We had fun checking out all the cool new cars and trucks and imagining ourselves purchasing one of them! We rode the train back home, and everyone was tired. And poor Em was suffering from allergies. 

They left Monday afternoon, all on the same flight from DFW Airport heading for SLC (Ivy's connection to Seattle was there). Hopefully they had a good time in the great state of Texas! 

Matchbox 20 Concert

I went to my first Matchbox 20 concert seventeen years ago. I was a senior in high school.

I went to my sixth Matchbox 20 concert seven days ago.

Matchbox is celebrating twenty years since the release of their debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You, which gave us the classic, "Push." When I found out about the tour I knew I had to go. For various reasons, I decided to hit up the concert in Austin and invite my sister to go with me.

The opening act was Matt Nathanson, a pretty cool dude with a few songs that I know (but those I heard I also liked). He came on right at eight and played for exactly forty-five minutes.

Then Matchbox 20 came out, playing four straight songs from their first album. They played a decent mix of songs from the other albums, but played nearly all from the first album. It made me very happy. The closing, pre-encore song was "Push" and the crowd went wild. They came back out to sing "3 am" and "Long Day", before closing it out with Rob on the piano playing "Bright Lights".

I loved jamming out and singing along to all my favorite songs. The played one of my favorites, "Hang" and reminded me how awesome they sound live.