Thoughts & Ramblings

There's a lot of "stuff" floating around in my head so I thought instead of a bunch of random posts I'd just have one big jumble of stuff tonight. I mean, the blog is called Mel's Thoughts & Ramblings right?

Unsettling

Last night I went to take a shower and before jumping in for some reason decided to check out my transplant scar in the mirror. Upon doing so I noticed two giant bruises lower abdomen on the opposite side of my kidney. Totally freaked me out. Emailed the doctor today and there's nothing to worry about. I just bruise easier because of one of my medications. So it could have been something as innocuous as Andrew bumping his feet into me when he crawled into our bed.

Heavy Heart

My heart is heavy for my friend Christal. Like many teachers in California she was given a pink slip for next year. Usually with the pink slips they end up rescinding the majority and tend to lay off teachers with less experience or no tenure. However, only one teacher at her school has received that letter. Please be praying for her and the other teachers in the days and weeks to come.

CrossFit

My brother-in-law and his ex-wife are co-owners of a CrossFit gym in the area. I've been interested in trying it out for a couple years but because of the lupus and kidney failure that was setting in, it just obviously wasn't something I was physically capable of. This past Tuesday I started training with Ronnie and loved it. We did a bunch of different exercises like box squats and different weight lifting things. I think it's going to be good. The thing that I like the most, but that also scares me is I can't quit. Having the accountability is a huge thing and it totally hit me when I was on the rower. I was thinking "oh my gosh, I don't know if I can keep doing this!" but then I realize Ronnie is sitting right next to me and I can't just stop like if I were by myself at the gym. Dang! So I'm sure with continuing this there are bound to be changes in my body.

Food

Which leads to changes in food! Hi, My name is Melissa and it's been 12 days since my last caramel mocha. Yeah, if you know me you know I heart my caramel mochas - iced or hot I don't care, just want the tasty goodness. Well the calories in those things are outrageous so I quit cold turkey. Just cutting that from my daily routine saves a ton of calories. I've also stopped fast food and cut my caloric intake down to 1500 calories. The CrosFitters really push the Paleo Diet (here's a blog Ronnie recommended). It makes a lot of sense, but I still have some questions about it.

Fresh Ground Peanut Butter

Okay, this one is really random but A and I were at Safeway one day and I noticed they have these big nut grinders. So I decided what the heck? So we ground some honey roasted peanuts to make our own peanut butter. Literally...it's just peanuts - nothing else added and it's SOOO good.

Volleyball

I forgot how much I truly love playing volleyball. It's been ages, but I've been playing regularly at a church drop in game on Tuesday nights and I adore it. Such a great workout and such a great time doing it. 3 hours of playing go by like a couple minutes, it's fantastic. I signed up for a beginner/intermediate beach volleyball class this summer. Super stoked for that. And we signed A up for 3-5 year old beach volleyball! How stinkin' cute is that going to be?

Poems About Groundhogs

So we went to an all school meeting for the charter school A will be starting next year. I mean really, this meeting was made out like if we didn't go we'd be kicked out of the school. Um, hello? You're charter but you're still public so chill and the meeting was so not all that. So in the meeting they had a well spoken 4th grader get up and talk about how she took poetry as her elective this past quarter. After she explains they they were to watch a little piece of ground and then write a poem about it she proceeds to read her poem which I've condensed. "Little fluffy groundhog, I see you at the entrance of your home, do you see me? At the entrance poking your head out. Snap, crushing of back, taking of life. Death." The parents reaction to it was priceless.

Random Links

This blog post moved me this past week.

Um, how does Pete Wilson know what's going on in my life?