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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Geocaching Inside My House

My kids and I love to go geocaching and letterboxing.  It is a wonderful family activity that gets us outside and exploring new places and things.  The thrill of the hunt and the excitement of locating the treasures keeps us coming back for more.  Not surprisingly, Little Miss loves geocaching and letterboxing the most out of all of my kiddles.  Naturally, she is at the perfect age for hiking trips deep into the woods.  And at her age, she understands the process the best.  It can be difficult taking the boys on one of these expeditions, though.  Chub-Chub loves to find treasures and is quite the willing participant, but he is still a toddler and, as such, can be challenging to reign in on long nature walks.  Miracle Man is an entirely different story.  He gets too hot or too cold...and cranky very easily.  He tires sooner than his siblings, and he gets easily distracted.  As for me, chasing after two toddlers while trying to keep up with Little Miss is painful and exhausting for me at the moment. Long story short, we don't go letterboxing or geocaching nearly as often as we would like to.  In fact, as the boys have gotten older (and less easily confined to their stroller), we have gone on fewer and fewer of these types of hunts (and none for this year).  I am sure that, with time, it will get easier and we will be able to geocache and letterbox all over the place once again.

Lucky for me, I recently discovered that each day I do my own treasure hunting of sorts.  When I vacuum.  Of course there is the usual dirt, dust, cat hair, dog hair, etc.  But each time I vacuum, I am always surprised at what is lurking in the nooks and crannies of my house a mere day after the last time I plugged it in and began a search.  So while I cannot go on geocaching outings as often as I would like,  I take comfort in knowing that each day, there will be a new cache to find right inside my own home with my favorite machine, the vacuum.

Here is a list of the top 10 most interesting items found in today's vacuum cache:

10.  Cheerios...yes, AGAIN! Today's location:  the couch.  Because everyone knows that you simply cannot watch the Smurf movie without cheerios, mommy.

9.  A tiny leaf...I'm not quite sure how that got into the living room.  Are we growing a tree inside our house?  Am I that oblivious to the sheer number of living things in our home that I did not notice an entire tree growing in here??  Alas! It's gone now, anyway!

8.  A black olive...so glad it was in the kitchen where it belonged at least!

7.   Kitty litter...always, always, always.  Today, though, it wasn't just scattered pieces kicked off paws from jumping out of the litter box.  Nooooooo, today, there was a whole pile of litter next to the litter box (obviously in an attempt to cover up a stinky floor tile).

6.   Dried up playdough.  Of course.

5.  A paperclip...ummmm, do we even USE those in the house?  I can't remember the last time I took out a paperclip.

4.  An earring backing...we should own stock in the company that makes these things!

3.  A feather.  Nope, we do NOT, nor will we EVER own any kind of bird!  NEVER!!!  Did the cat bring it in the house, then?  And, if so, where IS the rest of what used to be attached to said feather????  YIKES!

2.  A turquoise, high heeled Barbie shoe...I guess her prince won't be able to see if the shoe fits her now!

1.   A cheese stick wrapper.  On.the.floor.  (Oh no you didn't!)  Now, I KNOW that none of my children would ever throw their wrapper right on the floor.  There must be some logical  explanation for this.  Like:  Chub-Chub's arm broke off and was swallowed up by the dog just as he was about to put the wrapper in the garbage maybe? Or perhaps Miracle Man tripped over a giant elephant with pink polka dots on his way to throw it out, and that caused him to miss the garbage can completely? No, these stories could not be true you say? Then what the ever-loving-heck caused the cheese stick wrapper to end up on the freaking floor for crying-out-loud? A child carelessly dropped it?  Nahhhhh!  That's too far-fetched for sure!

Well, there you have it.  My cache for the day!  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!


Yours in geocaching,
Marathon Momma

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

In a Nutshell

It's been a while again since my last post.  It's been hectic in our household. Miracle Man and Chub-Chub have turned four and Little Miss has turned nine. We lost our beloved doggie, Khloe, unexpectedly and suddenly. Prince Charming is working around-the-clock, and his business is doing well. Miracle Man is making good progress in his school program, Chub-Chub loves being a big boy now, and Little Miss is thriving in school! Phew!! That's the shortest update I think I've ever written!

As for me, well, I continue to receive diagnoses. "Woohoo!" (She says sarcastically!) And with another one potentially on the way, sometimes it feels like the diagnoses just won't stop coming! 

Daily, fatigue remains a fire-breathing-dragon chasing me down and often incinerating me. Yesterday I was so fatigued, for instance, that I took not one, but TWO long naps!!! The changing weather definitely effects my pain and fatigue. I am trying to live in the moment, acknowledging my body's needs with acceptance and flexibility. It can be frustrating, though, especially when it comes to my children. I feel like I am missing out on a lot with them due to the fatigue in particular...especially all the little moments. On the days when I have more energy, I try to make it a point to do things with them that will be memorable and enriching.

I've recently begun to learn about meditation and mindfulness to help me cope with the emotional aspects of living with these illnesses. I haven't gotten very much into it yet, having only read one book and tried meditating just once so far. I struggled with the intense focus required during that meditation because the pain factor was kicking in. My shoulders and back were aching and I had stabbing pains while I was sitting on the floor. I'm hoping that when I try it again, I won't be experiencing the pain. 

I have also begun following the FODMAP diet on my doctor's orders, which is similar in some ways to the Paleo diet, only more strict. For example, I have had to eliminate garlic and onions from my diet! Imagine that!! Try cooking without garlic!! It's a feat unto itself!! Though, I have to say that I am getting used to it by now, since I've been on the diet for several months. But sometimes it does feel like SUFFERING! Lol

That's about it in a nutshell...feel free to leave a comment below...especially if you have experience with the FODMAP diet, as I'd love some more tips!

Garlic-less yours,
Marathon Momma

P.S. No vampires are welcome in my house! ;)