Ya Know What I Did Last Summer?

I RODE THE WHOLE, ENTIRE (as in, ALL of it!) TREK ACROSS MAINE! That was 180 miles from the mountains to the sea.

Fortunately, they gave all of us (over 2,000 of us) 3 days to do it all in.

See that pic up above? I was pretty much sobbing with joy there. You see, this was my FIFTH Trek, but my first finish. All the other times something happened to put me out of the ride.

But now that I've finished it once, I am ready to do it again.

I can't do it without YOU, though. In order to ride, the BHE and I must raise $500 each for the American Lung Association. If you'd like to help, just click one of the donation links in my side bar.

I and my asthmatic lungs thank you!!!!!

In Which Groovy Presents You With a Clear, Concise, Focused Post

April Fools!

Oh...It's May.

Sorry.

I am in a tornado of activity today. This evening I set off on another Search and Rescue adventure. This training is at a Naval training camp in Rangeley, Maine and the focus is on survival.

And it's supposed to be cold and rainy.

And it is primitive - lean-to and outhouse primitive.

And I don't own any raingear (yet).

Hope I survive!

(A moment of silence for Groovy who may or may not survive...)

(Thank you!)

Before I leave I need to bake a dessert for the SAR gang, make cookies for our 4-H fundraiser sale (which, thankfully, Mulletman is attending with the girlies, so I can pull myself together and not have a nervous breakdown), finish packing my backpack and sleeping gear, make a packing list for vacation, and NOT worry that Mulletman hasn't yet gotten his mother a Mother's Day gift.

Actually, I'm sure I have no reason to worry. After all, the man has stepped right up to the plate and done almost $100 of his own fundraising for the Trek Across Maine this year. This is a first! Usually I do all the letter writing and blog plugging and begging and pleading for folks to support him and the work of the American Lung Association, but this year he has been passing the hat himself. I am so proud of him!

Speaking of which, if you haven't sent in your support pledge, please, Please, PLEASE do so before the end of this month. Even $5 would be a tremendous help! Just click HERE to make your U.S. tax deductable contribution.

My hope is that the ALA will push drug companies to make asthma inhalors that are affordable (my current one is $30 a pop AFTER the insurance!) and that have counters on them so I don't still think I have medicine left when I don't.

The middle of an asthma attack is a very, very bad time to realize that your inhalor is empty!

Eeeeeek! I just looked at the clock... So this afternoon I'm singing at a graveside funeral service. I've never been to one of those before. Should be interesting. I hope they don't mind if I smell like a serious dose of insect repellent!

After that I'm off to the survival training until late Saturday. Assuming I live through that, Sunday will NOT be a day of rest. It will be day of attending church (which will be refreshing, if not restful) and celebrating our Moms and more PACKING because Monday we're hopping in the car for a road trip to New York to visit Funsocksgirl and then to Indiana to visit some close friends. On the way back to Funsocksgirl's we'll stop at the Creation Museum in Ohio.

It'll be a fun and busy two weeks.

And no, I won't be blogging.

Unless, of course, Funsocksgirl and J-Man are boring. In which case I can be counted upon to commandeer her computer and give you an update. Sadly for you, they are NEVER boring! ;-)

And this is where I'd love to tell you about my weird day yesterday, but will have to settle for summarizing. You know, due to the time and all:

- Accidentally took home another 4-H er's sweatshirt after club and left her family in a flurry this morning trying to locate it.

- Left my garden shoes and Silly-Head's windbreaker at the same meeting.

- Witnessed a just-barely-missed accident that left me revved up for hours!

- Bought a spice at the store and then realized the bottle was completely empty.

- Bought a treat for Funsocksgirl and realized the package was ripped open.

- Had a monkey wrench thrown into my schedule (a NICE monkey wrench that culminated in new tires and dinner out at Longhorn's .)

- Missed seeing a curb and twisted my ankle. (not badly - Whew!)

- Didn't accomplish ten+ different planned agenda items

OK, enough about me...

I'm outta here and moving on to baking and working out and packing and more groovy insanity and adventures. See ya on the other side!

A Dream Come True

All my life I have desperately wanted to faint, but never was able to. I'd have a woozy moment of "almost" here or a dizzy moment of potential drama there, but I never went down.



45 plus years and no fainting. It was SO disappointing!

Then, this week, I came down with gastroenteritis, aka "the stomach flu". First came Sunday morning when Grampy got violently ill (you don't want to know the gory details, trust me!). Then came Monday when Grammy (who never gets sick) started throwing up. And finally on Tuesday the evil virus of doom passed through the door betweeen our abodes and I started making multiple bathroom runs. A short while later Silly-Head lost her cookies and more. Poor Girly-Girl kept her hands over her eyes and ears and Mulletman was VERY busy playing nurse. Fortunately for us he IS a nurse!

I wasn't throwing up. The trouble was more concentrated in my intestines. So early on I thought, "Oh, this isn't so bad. Inconvenient, but not miserable."

Then the aches and chills and moans and groans hit.

I was SO cold. I had mountains of blankets on, but I was still shivering. I finally gave up on my fitful attempts at sleeping and headed for the tub. All I could think of was the glorious warmth of a hot bath. I filled the tub up as deep as I dared with hot - very hot - water. It did help a bit. At least the parts of me that were underwater were warmer, but I had to keep shifting around to get other parts of me under because any skin out in the air brought on more shivering.

After a while, I felt too restless and achy to stay in the tub. I let the water begin to drain and reached a shaky hand for my towel. I sort of stood up to pat myself dry, but oh-my-word, I felt awful. I was nauseous, I was dizzy, I was...DYING! (oh, the drama!)

I was starting to cry from the effort of it all. I needed to SIT DOWN. So I did; On the porcelain throne. (Which, by the way, hasn't got one shard of porcelain on or in it anywhere. I'm just saying...) Next thing I knew I was waking up. I was still safely seated (our toilet has a wall on each side) and was sprawled backwards over the basket of magazines and the cute little stitchery tissue box. I was sweating bullets (no more chills, so I guess that was one good thing!) and felt HOR. I. BLE.

It took me a few moments before I could actually sit back up and slide on a few clothing items before crawling back to bed. I slept a while. Then, in a drowsy bit of wakefulness it dawned on me: Oh-my-goodness, I FAINTED in there!

And things have been looking up ever since! :-D

*************************************
And who knows, maybe my immune system was compromised by the fact that I did two bike rides this past week in 40ºF (4.4ºC) weather and had asthma attacks both times.

Did you know that, "Asthma is the most common chronic disorder in childhood, currently affecting an estimated 6.8 million children under 18 years; of which 4.1 million suffered from an asthma attack or episode in 2006."

And many, Many adults have it too. I'm an adult and I have it and frankly, asthma sucks! Imagine trying to go about your normal daily life and then suddenly feeling as if you were suffocating. Talk about panic!

It's also a costly disease: According to the American Lung Association, "The annual direct health care cost of asthma is approximately $14.7 billion; indirect costs (e.g. lost productivity) add another $5 billion, for a total of $19.7 billion dollars. Prescription drugs represented the largest single direct cost, at $6.2 billion."

I'd love to see an END to the scourge of asthma, wouldn't you? Well you can help!

Mulletman and I are riding in the 180 mile Trek Across Maine this June to raise money for the American Lung Association of Maine. The ALA funds research into asthma prevention and treatment. Mulletman and I are hoping to raise $750 each by the beginning of June.

Please make your tax deductable donation by clicking the link(s) in the top left sidebar.

My lungs and I thank you!

*************************************

In Which "They" are Trying to Kill Us!!

See this clock in our living room? It was a gift from my brother-in-law, Big Guy. We've had it for many, MANY years now. Isn't it lovely?



This week I had to replace the battery in it. That's when I noticed this little warning label on the back.




No wonder I have asthma!!!!

**********************