Wishing on Milkweed & Acorn Wreath Tutorial

I am not in the mood to write.  When I'm feeling down (and I don't want to whine), even extrovert me tends to get quiet, hide in the closet, and wait to feel better.  Kind of a "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" mentality.  BUT a training buddy / friend saw one of the very many crafts I've been posting to Facebook, and asked me to write a tutorial for it in this blog.  It is neither triathlon nor baking related, but.... here it goes anyway.  I'll cut right to the tutorial chase and save the philosophic ramblings for later on in this post.

Acorn Wreath

For this craft, you will need a glue gun with a LOT of glue, some heavy duty wire, a foam wreath frame from a craft store (mine was about 9 inches around with a 2 inch diameter - green foam.  from the florist section), some silk leaves (or real if you prefer) and a giant bag of acorns.

I've been trying to get out of the house at least once a day.  Like many breeds of large, hyperactive dog, I apparently need to be walked and exercised in order to be happy.  Mommy is a Dalmatian.  Fresh air fixes almost anything (temporarily).  Yesterday's outing was to a local farm for a gorgeous hayride, to get mini-pumpkins for pumpkin spiders, and to the bike path so that the little biker dude could get in some miles that he's been desperately campaigning for.  

On the hayride

 The spot we parked at the bike trail was under some giant oaks trees.  The little girl still has no interest in biking, and since Mommy can't run with her, the plan was to crutch over to the nearest bench and sit keeping me company while Daddy chased the little man on foot.  Seeing the hundreds of acorns on the ground, I grabbed a bag from the car and we set to work instead.  If any of the many people that passed us thought it was odd to see a five year old and a full grown woman on crutches sitting in the dirt collecting acorns, they didn't say so.  Once the boys got back, more collecting ensued.  We got hundreds.

Before you can craft with acorns, it's important to dry them, so that any critters living in there don't come out to play once you've work them into crafts.  So - to dry spread in a single layer on a towel for an hour or so.  Then place in sheet pans, single layered, in a 175 degree oven for at least an hour and a half.  Leave the oven door open a crack so that moisture can escape, and stir them every so often so they don't burn.

Got enough?

Once they have cooled, they are ready to use.  Today is our Farmer's Market day, so the Jedi is furiously baking for the morning and then gone the rest of the day.  Girl child goes to half day kindergarten, but the little guy is around all day, and since Mommy is present, is completely underfoot and incapable of entertaining himself.  So I set us up in the playroom craft table for the morning.

Kid wreath version - Elmers and foam wreath

We both started with wreathes.  For him, an orange "wreath" of foam stuff and regular glue, and for me the florist green foam wreath and the hot glue gun.  Putting together the wreath could not be more simple.  Glue the acorns to the wreath.  That's it.  I started out in the inside - applying a small section of glue along the inner edge and sticking on a few acorns (with no caps) at a time.  Working outward until the entire wreath was covered. Offset the acorns in a "honeycomb" pattern so that as much of the foam is covered as possible.  Be generous with the glue - I went through several sticks.

Gluing on the acorns

 As always, kids and hot glue guns don't mix well, so make sure you keep an eye on both when they are adjacent.  Once the wreath is covering in acorns, I hot glued on some silk fall leaves and berries that were part of a garland I had lying around.  You could use fall ribbon, burlap, or any other kind of accent you like.  Wrap the heavy duty wire around the top and twist it into a loop to hang.  That's it - easy!!

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So yes, I've been doing a lot of crafting.  Still can't drive, and I'm off work this week.  I tend to measure each day by what I've accomplished, so it's hard to not feel like a total waste of space when I'm not working, training, walking, driving... etc.  Crafting gives me some quality time with the kids (which I never have enough of), and the feeling of having something tangible at the end of the day to say, "Look what I did!!"  I like to hang my stuff right up there next to the kiddos'.  It also keeps the kids entertained at least momentarily so that the Jedi can see to the running of the house, the business, and every other useful thing around here, in addition to his laid up wife.  Awesome.   The feasibility of "resting" while entertaining a four and five year old is a whole other line of discussion.... one that I think if I get into here would take lots of space.

Building a teepee in the yard

I mentioned I'm feeling pretty down.  This afternoon I was outside with the kids doing a photo scavenger hunt. (A brilliant idea - you give the kids cameras and send them racing all over the yard to take pictures of clues and then come back to show Mommy).  One of the clues was a milkweed plant.  I showed the kids how to open them up and release the fluff on the wind.  How to make a wish.  My daughter asked me to make a wish - my first one was, of course, "I wish my foot would get better".  But then I thought about all that I do have in my life, and what kind of example I wanted to set.  When she gave me my next wish, I wished that someone else out there who needed a wish more than I do - that their wish would come true. (bad grammar - did you follow?) We tossed up the rest of the pod's wishes for sick children to get better, for people who lost their jobs to find new ones, for hungry people to get food, and many more.   Because really, those are the people that need the milkweed wishes.  Not me with all of my blessing and not my kids who have so much.  Lessons in gratitude.

Other craftiness the Cupcake Triathlon team has done lately:

Painting acorns

• Painting acorns.  Have your kid hold them by their tops and paint the bottoms.  You can go back and draw faces.

Mini-pumpkin spiders

• Pumpkin monsters & spiders.  Use pipe cleaners, craft foam, and google eyes to make mini pumpkins and gourds into spiders and other creepy crawlies.

• Trick-or-treat bags.  Let your kid decorate his own cloth trick-or-treat bag with glow in the dark puffy paint.
• Yet more Halloween cake pop designs.  Dip round cake balls in orange and add a green sunflower "stem" for pumpkins.  Form cake balls into cone shapes and triple dip in yellow, orange, and white or chocolate, orange, and white to make candy corn pops.  Make the mummies by dipping in white chocolate then drizzling more white chocolate all over while spinning the pop to make bandages.  Press in mini chocolate chip eyes.

Oh mummy....

Gypsy asked me the other day when we delivered her celebration cake for finishing her first half marathon if I was out for the 70.3 next year.  I told her that honestly, quitting it had never occurred to me based on this injury.  Upon further contemplation, it very well may be that I never run all 13.1 miles.  My body seems to hate running - I cannot stop getting injured.  This season I went from a non-runner, to a 12 minute miler, to a 9:30 minute miler in 6 months.  I was so close to being able to pace Gypsy and Hummingbird (who crushed her own 10K race yesterday) that I could taste it.  Letting go of that dream, at least for this season, is hard. It is hard to know that I'll be starting so far back when I am cleared to run again.  I want to work out - swimming or cycling, but just crutching around has me exhausted most days.  I'm still taking some hefty pain meds - I went to bed at 8 last night and didn't sleep until midnight because of the pain in my foot.  It is hard not knowing what to do.  But I have faith that I will see the other side of this particular injury.  In the meantime, I hope I will have the presence of mind and fortitude to be grateful, patient, and keep wishing on milkweed.

Congratulations Gypsy!

Send in the Clowns

Elephant paints a picture at the pre-show

Friday we had tickets to see the circus (Ringling Bros).  We got them ages ago.  True to form, Friday morning I had an epic freak-out that my foot still hurt.  Yes, I was panicking because broken bones hadn't magically healed in two weeks.  I called Mom, called the doctor (who never responded), and then resorted to the ultimate medical diagnostic technique - polling my triathlon group on Facebook.  Some tears, responses, and some medicine later I settled back into the realization that it is going to take weeks for this to heal.  My main frustration is the MD didn't give me any timeline, so I am essentially feeling my way about when it is ok to stop using crutches, stop wearing the boot, etc.  Which on some days (like today) it doesn't hurt at all and I'm ready to go.  On other days, it feels awful.  Mood swings ensue.

Despite my tantrum and anxiety about leaving the house, come lunchtime we headed out to the Worcester DCU center.  We got there and hour and a half early for the pre-show, where you can go check out the animals in their enclosures and then go into the main arena to dance with the clowns, watch an elephant paint a picture, and bounce in a giant bouncy house if you are under 48 inches tall.

Memorizing pattern for later....

I got a truly impressive workout walking on my crutches (crutching?) around the DCU center.  Forget biking or swimming - just chasing two hyperactive kiddos around a stadium is a great workout for your arms, hands, and core.  I'm still sore!!

The show itself was amazing.  Magical.  My heart was in my throat for the aerialists, the acrobats, and especially the motorcycles in the steel ball.  Oh my goodness.  I wanted to call the mother of all those performers and say "Your child is not being safe!!"  At one point the girl child looked over at me and said, "Don't be afraid Mommy - it's not real."  This from the child who insists that her imaginary friends are real.  Might have to work on that...

Cotton candy

We spent more on cotton candy and popcorn than our tickets cost.  The vendor calling out $20 glowing swords and light up toys that spin nearly made my children explode with frustration when I repeatedly told them the Mommy had no more money.  Clearly the purpose of these people is to torture children and their parents.  But the show itself was a once in a lifetime experience.  Loved the big cats (we are currently trying to train our two housecats to do the same.  It's not going well).  Loved the trained puppies in dragon costumes, the Shaolin warriors, the acrobats that launched from a seesaw into towers five people high.  Dancers riding horses.  It was truly amazing.  We went out to dinner afterwards and it was all in all a really nice family day - something that was sorely (pun intended) needed.

And the elephants!!

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The circus was timely for the following day's cake - a jungle themed baby shower cake.  I wanted to do Zebra print for one of the tiers, so I payed special attention to the tiger stripes at Ringlings.  I was still high with the circus buzz while decorating.  I am very grateful for my cake business / hobby - even when I'm broken I have something else that brings me so much joy.  A lot of the time the cake biz feels like work, but this cake was for a friend and was so much fun!  I decided to snap some pictures to make a tutorial while I worked.

Zebra Print Fondant Tutorial

• Roll out white fondant per usual, to nearly the size you need for your cake.  We use homemade marshmallow fondant, but commercial is fine too.  We also use the Sweetwise Mat for all our fondant covered cakes - while not necessary, it is a fabulous tool and makes the whole process much easier.  (I am not affiliated with Sweetwise in any way - I just like their product).

• Remove the top sheet of the mat, if using.  Roll small rolls of black fondant (make sure to taper the ends of each roll) radiating out from the center in a zebra striped pattern.

• Once all your rolls are in place, put the top sheet back on and press firmly with your hands.
• Roll out the stripes, always starting your pin in the middle and rolling outwards.  Do not roll in any other direction than out!
• If using the mat, turn the fondant sheet over and remove the BOTTOM layer.  If rolling out without the mat, very carefully roll up your sheet and turn it over.

• Drape the fondant, striped side up, over your cake.
• Fit the fondant to the sides of your cake, smoothing, lifting, and stretching, per usual.  Be gentle - even if the black stripes are firmly rolled into the white, they may try to separate a little if pulled too much.
• Once fitted and smooth, trim the bottom edge and continue with the cake!

Done!!

Aiming for Square 1

I see that you're still in your pajamas....

People talk about the stages of injury.  First there is denial.  You pretend there's not something wrong, or that it isn't that bad.  "I'm wearing a boot, but I can still do two hours of hard garden work!"  I checked that off the list early last week, before I went to the doctor.  Then bargaining. "If I stay in this boot and it doesn't hurt for three days, that means the doctor was wrong and I can run again."  I still indulge this somewhat.

My faithful nurse

Then depression.  This is where I've been firmly parked the last several days.  Parked with the cat in my lap. Cursing the rainy weather for being depressing, and the nice weather for rubbing it in that I can't work out outside among the gorgeous fall leaves in New England.  I've been staying up later and later to watch The Next Great Baker on Netflix and sleeping in to match.  No morning workouts.  My commute consists of rolling out of bed and turning on my work computer.  Which makes it easy for the clock to strike 4 in the afternoon before I realize I haven't even left my bedroom, much less showered.  It's very flattering.

The next stage is supposed to be Coping.  Or Acceptance.  That stage where you absorb the fact that your injury is real, stop shoving chocolate chips in your face like it's your job, and start making positive choices again.  I've had a few false starts with this.  I spent all of Tuesday without pain killers (not worth it).  I am really trying to use my crutches even though I can walk some with the boot before it starts to really hurt.  I refilled my supplements tray with all the vitamins I usually take while training.  (Maybe calcium is still important when regrowing bone?)

But I knew I needed to do more.  Preferably more involving less time under the furry friend and more time doing something vaguely athletic.  So that when I am cleared to go again, I'm only starting at Square 1 instead of Square 0. Because truthfully, the second metatarsal is at the very very end of one small part of my body.  An important part, but still - the rest of me could be doing something.  So I'm happy to report that I've completed my first - post boot workout!!

Working It Out - Boot Style

Very tough selfie to take

I had Jedi pump up the balance ball again and grabbed my yoga mat and weights.  Focusing on stretching, upper body, and core.  I did all upper body work on the ball, because I like the added challenge of stabilizing in the core while working on a specific muscle group.

Upper body: 

• Chest press in bridge position with shoulders on the ball
• Fly in bridge position with shoulders on the ball
• Seated bicep curls
• Overhead triceps press
• Seated row
• Pushups on the ball from kneeling (*this is a lot harder than it sounds)

Boot UP!!!!

Core:

• The 100 (pilates)
• Regular crunches
• Bicycle crunches
• Twisted crunches (knees to either side to get the obliques)
• Leg lifts (extra hard with a boot!)
• Bird-Dog (on all fours, extend opposite leg and arm)

Stretching:

• The Saw (sit straight up, legs hip width apart.  Reach and "saw off" you toe with your opposite hand)
• Hamstring stretch with a band.  Drop down to the knee and reach through to stretch the back of the leg
• Cobra



Keep those hamstrings stretchy....

• Side stretch while cross-legged.

Two sets of 15 reps each for the strength moves, and my arms and legs are shaking!!  It feels good to be "back".  Even if "back" is only a short set on my bedroom floor.  My plan is to repeat this 3x per week for as long as this boot is on.  I'll slowly add in swimming and walking on alternate days.  With luck, I'll be able to run the Turkey Trot for Thanksgiving!!

On the subject of squares, Hummingbird is taking pity on me and getting me out of the house tonight.  We are going to a local nursery (plants not babies) to make a holiday centerpiece.  Our first time working together and it's not cake!  Who'd have thought??  I am unreasonably excited at the chance of getting out of the house.  Yay!!!

What Hummingbird and I are making.  Grown-up craft time!

Product Review - PocketFuel

Sponsored post.  All opinions are my own.  FTC disclosure - free product was provided to blogger for the purpose of review.

Fueling and nutrition are a challenge for every endurance athlete.  Ask any set of triathletes, and you will get as many different strong opinions on what works best as there are people.  Everyone is different - there is no one-size-fits-all formula for proper nutrition.  On long workouts, say over an hour, it becomes even more critical.  The traditional wisdom is to consume a large meal with balanced carbs and protein a few hours before a race (or long workout), and a small easily digestible carbohydrate snack 30 minutes prior.  Then fuel every 45  to 60 minutes with more carbs.  Most sports products like GU gels, Huma Gels, Shot Bloks, and Gatorade offer a mix of electrolytes, naked sugar, and sometimes caffeine.

This is all well and good for people with normal blood sugar.  Bear with me - here comes the science (finally that Masters in Biology is good for something!).  Most people are familiar with insulin, the hormone secreted by the pancreas that moves sugar from the blood into cells where it can be utilized.  This is what diabetics are missing, so that sugar accumulates in their blood without reaching the target cells.

Chronic hypoglycemia is essentially the opposite problem.  The pancreas produces too much insulin, especially in reaction to intake of sugar.  I was saddled with this diagnosis as a child - I kept passing out in class.  Once I even fell off the top row of the choir risers.  I visited the school nurse on a daily basis for doses of granola bars.  Finally my wise mother took me to the doctor.  The test for hypoglycemia is brutal.  After 12 hours fasting, you drink one of those sugary orange soda beverages with a bolus of glucose.  They then collect urine and blood every 1/2 hour for five hours or until you pass out - whichever comes first.  I'll let you guess which I did.  I have distinct memories of playing endless rounds of gin rummy with mom (I was a disadvantaged child before IPads were invented), a gap, and then waking up on a stretcher.

In a normal person, when your blood sugar is low, you eat, and no matter you ate, your body produces the correct amount of insulin, which slowly returns your blood sugar to normal levels.

In a hypoglycemic, when you eat, especially if it is straight carbs, your pancreas completely freaks out and overcompensates by flooding your blood stream with insulin.  The result is a sugar high, followed by a monster crash.  You get dizzy, then cranky, and then turn into a completely scary hell beast with no ability for rational thought.  Even my four year old knows to get mommy a snack if I'm being crazy.  I have no doubt that all of my struggles with anxiety and depression are related to blood sugar.  The antidote to this phenomenon is to always pair carbs with protein.  Protein is digested more slowly, so serves to stabilize the blood sugar, avoiding the crash.  I am never with peanuts, granola bars, or something in my purse.  In my next life I'll be a squirrel.  

(Interesting aside - a paramedic recently told me that the current preferred rescue snack for people in hypoglycemic crisis is frosting.  The sugar and fat is the perfect balance.  So they carry tubes Wilton's in the their med kits.  Cool, huh?  Better health through buttercream....)

While there certainly is enough frosting in my house to serve as a workout fuel, I'm not quite ready to cross those worlds.  And I hate frosting.  But something different than the norm IS needed, because this is what happens to a hypoglycemic on a long workout fueling only with carbs:

For ever gel consumed, the sugar spike and crash comes faster, until you completely bonk and can't continue.  Clearly I'm not going to do 70.3 with only sugar in my tank.  I eat small meals every 3 hours and have been since I was eight years old.  No seven hour workouts here.  So what to do?  A fellow member of the SBM Army suggested I try PocketFuel, an almond-butter based fuel with a whopping 8 grams of protein per pouch.  Yes please!!

I wrote to the kind folks at Pocketfuel, and they very nicely agreed to let me try it out.  They shipped me all 8 flavors the next day.  Talk about service!!  The small packets are slightly larger than a typical GU pack, but still perfect size to fit in your bike jersey.  There is also a twist off lid that is resealable, so you can either chug the whole thing or sip at it slowly over the course of your workout.  Bonus, the packs are reusable - you can also order a giant vat of your favorite flavor (which I will be doing) and refill your pouches from there.

The Jedi and I decided to test drive Pocketfuel on our American Lung Association 2-day 100 mile ride.  And we were pretty excited - the flavors all sounded yummy!  Chocolate smackaroon, Vanilla Haze, and Chunky coconut cherry - these sounded like sundae flavors!

The first flavor up was Vanilla Haze - Jedi broke the top at the first SAG stop of Day 1 (lightweight).  His first reaction was "Oh my god you have to try this.  I want to put this in a cupcake!".  I tried it - he was right.  It was beyond delicious.  Nothing at all like choking down other energy gels.  I started to bonk about 25 miles into the ride and we stopped on the side of the road to refuel.  (Another trait of hypoglycemic - fine to crashing shaking wreck in 60 seconds.  You'd think I'd know better by now.)  I had the Chocolate Espresso in my jersey.  I tried it, and passed to Jedi for his taste.  In the time it took him to say, "Wow that is strong" I sucked down the entire sleeve.  What I loved was that it wasn't sweet.  Not really.  I have a love/hate relationship with sweet things - my body knows that they make me sick, so I always feel some level of queasy as soon as I eat a gel or other sugar.  Not so here.  The chocolate espresso was barely sweet - it tasted like pure fuel.  I didn't experience anything like a crash in the miles that followed - just a slow, strong burn.  I am 100% sure that with enough of this stuff, I could climb Everest.  Win Kona.  Clean my kids playroom and never yell at them while doing so. It is that good.

True, Pocketfuel does have a texture.  You need to massage the packets and mix them up before you consume them.  Just like natural peanut butter, they do separate.  And these are ALL NATURAL ingredients - nothing on the label I couldn't pronounce or wouldn't cook/bake with.  The other flavors we tried were the Chocolate Smackaroon (Jedi wants to put it on his toast) and Pinapple Coconut.  Those too, were not too sweet, and even a little crunchier than the first we tried.  Which I actually like.  I don't like the pudding feeling of most fuel products - with Pocketfuel I felt like I was actually eating something.  But quickly.  Which is great.  You can also add to to milk to make a smoothie - something I'm looking forward to trying with my remaining packets.

In short, Pocketfuel totally rocks. I have no doubt that when and if I make it to the starting line of the Patriot Half Ironman in June, that I'll have my pockets full of the stuff.  Hopefully in Chocolate Espresso.  I might even smear it on my foot to see if it will heal it faster.  I think it will....

Apple Hand Pies

Some parents love to work from home.  While I am incredibly grateful to have the sort of job that allows me to work from home a couple of days a week, I find it difficult to do so with the kids.  When Mommy is out of sight, she is out of mind.  When I'm in the home office (also known as my bedroom), the kids are forever sneaking in to ask me to play with them, give me hugs, and complain about Daddy's parenting (the ask-the-other-parent loophole).  The kids have so far been very tolerant of Mommy's handicap - they have been bringing me my crutches, fetching me this and that when I can't reach it, and giving me extra hugs.  But their comments of "I hope your foot feels better soon" are starting to shade away from sympathetic and into impatient.  Add the indignity of being present in the house full-time but not paying attention to them, and I'm feeling the full force of parental guilt.

Stop working and play with me!!

That and I have the munchies.  What couch-entrapped person wouldn't at the peak of fall?  Pumpkins, apples - I love it all.  Jedi does not bake when not forced to for the business (and who can blame him?), so I'm on my own there.  This evening I decided to combine my two problems into a single solution:

Apple Hand Pies

These are great projects for little hands, and taste (if not look) just like Mom's apple pie.  Of which my mother's is the best on the planet, just so we are clear.  For this project you will need: 

• One pie crust recipe.  I use Simply Recipe's - it works great.  Just make sure you do actually freeze the butter.  Makes all the difference.  You could use pre-made pie crust but it'd be less fun.
• 7-8 medium baking apples, preferably freshly picked by cute children then peeled and sliced
• 3-4 tablespoons of flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• At least one enthusiastic helper, with a workspace and rolling pin for each and extra flour for dusting.

First step is to combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a large Ziplock bag.  MAKE SURE THE BAG IS SEALED  (I cannot stress this enough) and then give to your helper to shake until the apples are coated.

Shaking so hard she's blurry

Shake it shake it!!!!

Next, roll out the pie crust, 1/4 at a time, into large rounds.  As much as possible with kids, try not to overwork the dough.  Place a heaping pile of the coated apples on one side of the rounds, and then fold over turnover style.

Rolling out the dough

Press down the edges of each turnover to seal, and if you trust them to not harm themselves or others doing so, let your child pole holes with a fork in each pie.  Reseal the edges after your child has poked too hard and sprayed out the apple filling again.  It's worth the extra step - kids love stabbing stuff!

Making steam holes

Place on a cookie sheet and into an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the pie crust is lightly browned.  Let cool completely and serve.  We did four large hand pies and each shared one - you could make smaller as well.

I feel better already.....

Tripping Over the Cat

Last night I told my husband, "I can't believe it's only been a week since the ALA ride".  It seems like a lifetime ago.  As you know, I have some pretty serious pain in my foot following the ride - enough that I bought a walking cast from Amazon.  Due to financial concerns, we were really hoping that that would be enough to get me through.  Unfortunately, by Friday, it was apparent to me that it wasn't.  My foot was hurting worse than ever, despite the cast, despite staying off it (for me), working from home, etc.  It just wasn't getting better.

Jedi didn't want me calling the doctor, because x-rays would probably be ordered, and in the end the treatment might be RICE and a walking cast - what we were doing already.  Whole lot of money we don't have for nothing.  I didn't feel right, but I waited until he left for errands on Friday morning and then called (illicit phone calls - sign of good marriage).  

After I gave my info to the nurse, she immediately said, "I know you!!  I saw your family earlier this week!  They are so cute but man they are a MESS!!!".  Girl child is still sporting her stitches, boy child his scraped nose from his tumble over the weekend.  A mess, indeed.  I replied, "Yes, and that's going to factor in here...."  After explaining the situation, the nurse agreed to sign me up for an office visit (only) later that day, and told me to be completely non-weight-bearing.  And by the way no driving - someone was going to have to drive me. Jedi was less than amused when he came home.  We had a wedding cake to make that day, little dude's swim practice, and while he is 95% supportive of everything, the three things he dislikes most are baking wedding cakes, money, and doctors.  So cutting him some slack on this was warranted.

I did what any self-reliant, mature, reasonable adult would do.  I called my mom crying.  Mom agreed to drive the hour to my house to take me to the doctor, so that Jedi could carry on with his previously planned day.  She even brought enough gear to stay overnight.  An extra adult set of hands.  Love mom.

Grandma has her hands full.  Watching the Lorax.

So off to the doctor we went, with a very excited little pumpkin in tow.  Girl child decided hanging with mom and Grandma was more fun that watching her bro's swim class, and she was wicked excited to show off the awesome Halloween costume that Grandma made for her.  (Aside - I do not care what my kids are wearing.  Really almost ever.  Ever since they have developed free will and the stubbornness to insist on wearing their pajamas to the grocery store or picking plaid pants and a flowered shirt for school, I just don't care.  Jedi still fights this fight.  I do not have the energy.  I think they look cute no matter what).

Lil' Pumpkin in the waiting room

The doctor examined my foot (lots of poking - ouch) and explained that x-rays really were essential.  If it was broken, which he suspected it was, I'd need a plaster cast and to be on crutches for 8-12 weeks.  I swear I stopped breathing for a good minute then.  8 to 12 weeks?  Impossible.  Not feasible.  Later, a friend would call and ask how I was - when I told her that possibility she said "I want to see you on crutches for 12 weeks.  Are they gonna install wheels and some sedatives for you???".  Yeah.  The alternative was a deep bone bruise or fracture too small to be picked up, in which case I could keep my walking boot, but be on crutches for 2-3 weeks and in the boot until fully healed (no pain).  In either case, no driving.

We got the x-rays taken and went home to wait for the results.  And by wait for the results, I mean stack and decorate a wedding cake while Grandma chilled out with the small ones.  I did manage this, even on the crutches, and against all odds it turned out ok.  My x-rays came back negative (Hallelujah!).

The following morning both kids had soccer.  Jedi had to take over my coaching duties for my little guy (boo).  Grandma and I did go to the field to watch part of the practice, before she went home.  All four of us delivered the wedding cake to the reception - it made it there in one piece.  Girl child did develop a MASSIVE nosebleed on the way home, which turned what was to be a brief stop at a friends house to borrow nicer crutches into a 30 minute pit stop while Jedi attempted to stop the hemorrhage.  (The phenomenon has continued all weekend.  Stitches and clothes that look like Carrie wore them to the prom.  My poor little girl).  I've been watching a lot of The Next Great Baker - I want to create a reality show where bakers have to compete with two small children thrown into the mix.  For real.  Buddy Valastro doesn't have fractious kidlets in his box truck or underfoot while frosting.  Just saying.

So now I've been on crutches for exactly three days.  This is also impossible.  It feels like it has been years.  I hate them - I am clumsy.  I fall.  I am forever tripping over the cats and the children.  Stairs are a huge pain.  We have a split level house, which means that everything is either up or down a short flight of stairs from me.  I go to the sink to pour some water and realize I have no way to carry it back.  The phone rings and it's across the room, but my crutches are just out of reach because I either put them down wrong or someone knocked them over.  I give up and walk without them, only to have my foot start throbbing again after three steps.  I am going insane.

Batty bat

This weekend I did manage to do some productive things.  I started processing the mountain of carrots that boy child and I harvested last week (in my boot - not smart).  Carrot muffins, lots of frozen carrots.  I made dinner in the crockpot after eating bananas and plain pasta the night before for lack of food.  I made the little guy's Halloween costume (he's a bat).  My inability to use the presser foot on the sewing machine reinforced the "I can't drive" issue. I made a wedding cake topper of two brides and their mountain bikes (not easy to sculpt out of clay, btw).

Some big carrots...

But mostly, I've been sitting.  A lot.  Watching tv, reading.  I've even gotten sick of HayDay (it's less entertaining when you're not on pain killers).  I've started to take serial pictures of the cats in my lap.  To make it worse, it is the peak of fall - it is gorgeous out.  Perfect running weather.  Gypsy's half marathon is in a week - she is crushing her training.  Hummingbird ran a PR and made it to the podium in her 10K this weekend.  Legos and many other friends did the Electric Run at Gilette.  I am so proud of them all, and more than a little jealous.  Trying to focus on the proud.  (Jealous is winning).  

"Draft" of Mnt. Bike Brides

I feel like it will be months before I'm even back to where I was in my training before I got hurt.  Even once I'm cleared to run, I'll have to start brutally slow.  Having to say goodbye to my fall race schedule is killing me.  Moreover, my general inability to get around, leave the house, and function like normal is killing me.  Thank god it's only a couple of weeks.  I should be able to make it a few weeks.  After all, I made it years of my life without training.  Having to rest and take it easy is a sentence many people would love to have.  It's not all its cracked up to be... but I'm trying.

After trying to figure out how to get into the office (which is 45 minutes away) this week for some important meetings, I finally had a temper tantrum at my boss and threatened to go out on disability.  In true Scarecrow fashion, he told me to do whatever I wanted, but that he'd handle those that are telling me I have to come in.  Work from home.  Get comfy.  So that is the plan for the next two weeks - these 4 walls and my cats.

two nights ago....

yesterday afternoon

Andy cat seizes the lap!  Last night

Dissent.  Tigger wanted the lap and is sulking

BOOTED!!!

It's official - I've been booted.  Three days post bike ride and my foot is hurting worse than ever.  While some more rational folks might see the doctor, we're still pretty sure it's a metatarsal stress fracture, which can't be picked up on an x-ray.  Treatment is a nice spiffy chic walking cast like this one, so we skipped the middle man and ordered me one on Amazon.  I'll wear for a couple of weeks and see how it is feeling.  Yes, to those of you yelling, I will see the doctor if this does not address the problem.  But we are still waiting on the ER bills from my daughter's stitches last week and we just bought a car for heaven's sake, so for now... shush.

My little guy just came in my room where I'm working and poked my new cast with his finger.

Him: "You have a new cast"

Me: "Yeah"

Him: "And you can't run..."

Me: "Yeah"

Him: "And you can't bike..."

Me: "That's right"

Him: "And you can't do any races..."

Me: "True"

Him: "And that makes you very sad...."

Me (thinking) "Well NOW yeah!!"

So it is true.  I am limited to clunkily walking around like Frankenstein (hmm, Halloween costume?).  But it might be a measure of how tired I am that I'm ok with it.  It's been a long season.  Taking a few weeks off might be good for the body.  I am bummed to miss Zumba, and sad to not have the coping mechanism of a run available for stressful days, but... what are you going to do, right?  Besides, this will give me time to focus on other things that have fallen by the wayside.  Like work, my cake business, my garden, my children, Halloween costumes, canning applesauce, all the new fall seasons of TV starting up, and video games!!!

In my pain-med induced haze I've been playing an awful lot of HayDay - a very simple, even moronic, generic version of Farmville.  The repetitive tinkly music funny faces of the animals is strangely soothing. That and my only responsibilities being to ensure there is enough chicken feed and making pies. If only real life was like this.  Maybe instead of being a triathlete I'll achieve Level 100 on this game.  This can be a new life commitment, right??

My new calling.....

Maybe not.  But it's good for now.  Rest assured I still have plenty of posts to write, included product reviews of PocketFuel and Swirlgear.  So stay tuned!