Running

As some of you may remember, way back in February I started on a quest for a healthy life. Well it actually started last fall, but I officially kicked it back into gear in February for Lent. During the middle of Lent I saw a few facebook friends join a 30 day running challenge in March. So.....me being me joined the challenge. I didn't make it the full 30 days, I think I ran 27 of the 30, but it was fun and kicked my weight loss into high gear and I felt a whole lot better. March ended and a cousin of a friend of mine from college hooked me up with a wonderful running group on facebook. Someone in said group started a 3 month challenge: 12 miles per week in April, 16 in May, and 20 in June. I was game and I have to say of this challenge there was only 1 week I didn't make the cut. June ended and I was like now what?

Well, I got to thinking and reading more of the facebook posts from this running group, and I decided to sign-up for a half marathon. Mind you I had never run a race in my life (excluding those in gym and field day). Let me tell you I got some grief from well meaning people about signing up for a 5K first, etc. But you know I figured that I was already running 20 miles per week, usually in 5 days because of chaotic weekends, so I figured why the heck not! Granted as we had some really hot days in July and August I was really regretting training for a half marathon over the summer, but I survived. I developed my own gatorade (because I'm cheap) and learned I needed to wear my hair different on long runs and that a bandana was a great friend on hot days. I learned that the switch from 8 to 10 miles sounds harder than it is, but 10 to 12 was a little more challenging than I thought.

I also learned that in some senses running long distances is a lot like completing your dissertation. A lot of people think you're crazy (you are!), your family needs to be on board (who else is going to watch your kiddos when you need to go run for 2 hours), and it's easier when you have an actual goal date. Also you think to yourself mid run "Why am I doing this? I could be...... (fill in the blank)," you start saying things like "I'll be back in an hour, I'm only going to run 5-6 miles, it's a light day for me," which is comparable to the "I'll only be at the library/Starbucks/Panera/office for 2 hours today." You dream about running, and at least these were happy dreams for me, not the terrorizing dreams I had while finishing my dissertation. Your life revolves a bit around your running schedule. I had posted on our refrigerator my running schedule for each week leading up the race, which could be a bit daunting at times, but it was super helpful to me.

So then the next thing I knew the race was right around the corner, less than 3 week away and I started to get nervous. I mean what had I signed myself up for, so I did what all crazy people do: find someone just as crazy as themselves. I convinced a co-worker who I knew was a runner to run this with me. She at least had some experience running a long race, but we were both newbies to the half-marathon. Of course then we were two nervous crazy people constantly talking about running, but at least I had someone to be nutso with. All of sudden race day came: this past Sunday and it was an amazing experience.

My friend and co-worker and I ran the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon. There was live music along the course, cheerleaders, crazy fans and family and of course the running. It was a nice course, relatively flat compared to what I am used to running. I had a goal of 2:20, while I didn't make my goal (2:26) I ran those entire 13.1 miles! It was a great experience and unlike my dissertation, something I'll gladly repeat (I mean who wants/needs a second PhD!)

So all in all it's just another day in the life of the crazy mom, with my usual life lessons:

• If you can set your mind to it and train/study for it- You can do it.
• Saying you can't do something because you have kids is an excuse (yes I know there are some exceptions to this)

So here I am just finished my first half-marathon and 25 pounds lighter than I was this time last year. So what are you going to go do?

10 Years

I wanted to take a moment to mark the momentous occassion of being married to my wonderful hubby for 10 years. I won't call them magical, but I will say they have been pretty special. 10 years ago I could have never imagined the journey we have taken thus far. I can remember thinking that we had already overcome obstacles different from our friends and that married life would be "easier". Well, as anyone who has been married knows, sometimes it's easier, but sometimes it's a whole lot worse. I won't say that these past 10 years have been easy, but they have made us who we are and strengthened our love, committment and faith.

So let me give you a snapshot of our journey over the past 10 years..........

• 4 years of marriage pre-kids
• 4 different states of residence
• 5 new cars
• 1 hospital birth
• 3 homebirths
• 1 child hospitilization
• 5 years of consecutive pregnancies and nursing babies (did you know our oldest and youngest are 4 years and 6 days apart)
• 3 nannies
• countless camping trips
• 4 months of a split family while I did research in a different state
• 3 deaths of grandparents
• mulitple job changes
• and......5 years of a PhD

And through all of this my hubby has been by my side. We fight and struggle, but we make it through. I could not be where I am today without him. He is my friend, my confidant, my comedian and my love. And while we can't celebrate like we would like (no sitter available), I know it will be special night regardless.

Happy Anniversary!

A Quest for A License: Update

So here is the quick update on the license situation. I have never received that certified letter I was promised. I did finally make contact with a lovely person at the State Board office who figured out why I never got my letter: the secretary responsible for drafting said letter was out on FMLA. As I have stated on other forums it must be nice to work for a company where you are not required to have someone cover your work....... but I digress. The representative that I have been able to contact has managed to work with their lawyer to get the letter drafted and they so nicely emailed me a copy, with no mention that I would receive a paper copy. I have requested the paper copy. I think my favorite part of the letter is the salutation: Dear Ms. I'm sorry, did you miss the PhD after my name? This is a formal letter from the State Board and while I don't mean to be nit-picky- I worked my tail off for 5 years to earn that PhD! A little respect please!

In the mean time I have been building my case to present before the board. I will have to appear before the board February 26 and this appears to be my one shot to state my case. I have letters coming from my dissertation advisors and former co-workers and the state where I have the sanction sending a letter saying I am in good standing and have met all the requirements of the sanction. I have the ability to bring a lawyer, but I haven't consulted one yet. My current plan is to just present the facts and state the case as it appears to me. Though I am VERY open to suggestions.

So if you are praying people I could use those prayers!

Lent

The season of Lent is upon us. If you didn't already know I and my kiddos are practicing Catholics, hubby is a different Christian religion. While I generally keep religious and political commentary to myself, hubby or extremely close family I wanted to share what I will be doing for Lent this season. I have traditionally in the past given up such things as chocolate, ice cream, meat (for the entire 40 days- not just Fridays), soda, Facebook, etc. I have for the past few years tried to include something positive for myself as well during Lent: committing to more peaceful parenting, praying more, being healthier, as I felt that just denying myself something was not enough.

This year it has been tough trying to decide what exactly it is that I want/need to do with my life. With all the chaos of the move, licensure issues, financial woes, I just didn't know would be best. I really had this feeling that giving up sweets was inadequate seeing that God has provided my family with so much financial support via our extended family. I have made the commitment to be a healthier me. Which while I know that sounds vague in the extreme, specifically it means returning to working out 3 times per week (probably running) and counting calories to get back on the weight loss train. God gave me this body and it is my responsibility to take care of it for me, to be there for my children and out of respect for God.

You can imagine that after almost 5 consecutive years of pregnancy and pursuing a PhD I was not in tip-top shape and had gained some weight. Between pregnancies I was working out inconsistently and during pregnancy it was even worse. After Miss B was born I was committed to being healthy and began running. While I have never been a runner (I swam in high school), it was the fastest, easiest, cheapest way for me to tone up, lose weight and get healthy. Prior to the move I was running 2-3 times per week, with each run being about 3 miles and I had just started to include one 5 mile run per week. While I wasn't training for anything specific, it was just to keep me healthy. I have been running infrequently since we moved to our new location, but I am committing this Lent to returning to working out 3 times per week. So my friends, I am asking you to hold me accountable!

Now here is an interesting thing that happens to me while I run. I will suddenly have an overwhelming need to pray in the middle of my run, usually this occurs during the last half. It may be something as simple as Thank You Lord, or bless and protect my family/friends, to something more in-depth, or even just reciting prayers that I learned as a child. I don't have a clue if this happens to anyone else, but I would love to hear from you if it does. So maybe this commitment to running and being a healthy me is another way that God is drawing me closer to him. How is God calling you this Lent?

A Quest for A License

So now that you are all caught-up I bet you're wondering what has happened during the second half of January. Well I was supposed to start my new job January 14. Prior to moving to our new state the HR representative (from the hospital) I have been working with called to confirm that I had received my PT license in the new state, she called me the day we were packing house (5 days prior to my start date). Well I didn't have my license yet. I was expecting it to go through the state board at any moment and told her I was in the process still. Unfortunately from a legal standpoint I could not start without a license in hand, even with no patient contact.

After multiple calls to the state board I was finally able to get through and find out what was happening. They had two files for starters: one in my married name, and one in my maiden name. Apparently no one EVER reads those forms in entirety, because this is the THIRD time this has happened to me! SHEESH!

Once I got that remedied they claimed they were missing a piece of documentation from my current state of residence: my disciplinary history. I called my current state, they assured me that they had mailed it when they sent my verification, but they would send it again. Mind you I was making these phone calls while I have people packing my home and am planning to leave THE NEXT DAY for my new location. Talk about stress!

Then, (oh yes, then) while I am talking to the state board representative of my new state I am informed that my application MUST be reviewed at the board meeting prior to being issued a license. Something about having multiple licenses (I have been licensed in 3 states), they weren't really clear. The next board meeting was at least in my favor and was Tuesday January 22, assuming my missing paperwork arrived promptly I would be all set. So I called back HR and told her. We moved my start date to a tentative January 24/25/28. This was a bit stressful for us as hubby had already resigned from his job and we would be really hurting from the complete lack of income, but what could we do?

So we waited........ and waited........ and waited...... HR called me "what's the license status?" me: "I don't know"..... I was obsessively checking the website and my email. I started calling Thursday January 24 even though the website says not to call until at least 3 days past the board meeting. HR was telling me that things have in the past been posted immediately, so there was obviously some sort-of hold-up. The new board tells me "it's waiting for final review," "it's sitting on someone's desk," and my favorite "it should be any day now." I have called everyday since the 24th to hear one of those 3 answers above. I have been unable to talk to someone other than these generic state workers, though many of them have been genuinely helpful and calling others trying to determine what has been happening.

Yesterday I had a breakthrough. While I was still speaking with the same state level worker she informed me of something new. Yes, I had been reviewed at the board meeting, the board put in a recommendation to DENY my license based on my disciplinary history (I'll explain that nightmare in a minute). AND, the woman I was speaking with said that this was not new information that it had been in my file for AT LEAST a few days and I SHOULD HAVE  been told this any of the other times I had called. ARGH! She was at least very helpful and said I should be receiving a certified letter in the mail explaining it all from the state board, but I could request a hearing to state my case, present evidence, etc.

My first thought was CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! (well that's the cleaned-up version). I just packed up my entire family and moved to a new state, assuming I would have no trouble getting a license and no other income in sight. NOW WHAT? Well I am starting the request for the hearing, and still waiting on that certified letter to arrive........

Oh! So you want to know my disciplinary history issue? When I moved to my former state (are you confused yet?) to pursue my PhD I was pregnant with S. We moved in August, I was licensed in September/October 2006. The state was implementing a new continuing education requirement for PTs, so in MARCH 2007 (6 months later) I was required to renew my license and was held to the same standards as everyone in the state who had had 2 YEARS to prepare for this change. Lucky for me I had been attending conferences and my PhD classes counted for my continuing ed as well. I submitted my paperwork and never gave it another thought. Keep in mind that I am now a first-time mom to a young infant (S was born January 2007) and PhD student. Then to my surprise I was audited. Well, I gathered my paperwork and found that my jurisprudence exam (a test that proves I know the PT laws in my state) certificate was missing (I remember taking it). So I retook the exam and sent in the new certificate. Well........ the state took offense to my late date exam and found me in violation, I briefly tried to fight it, but it was too much. They fined me and put a sanction on my license. Lovely........  To make matters a bit worse I was licensed in another state and I forgot to tell them about the sanction, they issued me a warning letter, luckily nothing worse.

Well I did openly release ALL this information to the state board, but I never imagined that it would be haunting me now. So now we sit here in our rental house with no income (hubby had a pre-interview today thankfully), a house still for sale in our previous state, and essentially $300 in the bank. Needless to say we are stressed though EXTREMELY thankful for the support of our families.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

I know. I know. It's January 31 and I'm just now getting around to wishing you all a happy new year. Well it's a been a bit busy the household since mid-November. You can imagine that holidays with 4 little ones makes life a bit hectic (fun though!) And well toss into the mix the cross country move and other excitement, well I'm a bit behind.

So to catch you all up on things. Just before Thanksgiving I accepted a pediatric physical therapy position at a lovely children's hospital. They gave me a start date of January 14, so we had to do some hustling to get to our new location (9-10 hours from where we were then located). We made it through Thanksgiving. I cooked a lovely turkey and my father fried a lovely turkey. We ate turkey for what seemed like weeks! It was heavenly. Directly following Thanksgiving S had her holiday dance recital and then hubby and I flew out to look at homes. Lucky for us we had our current home already on the market so we at least didn't have to add to the chaos of finding a realtor to sell our current home. On a whirlwind weekend in which I believe we actually outpaced my parents in looking at properties we picked a house. Well the mortgage companies had other ideas and basically told us no! you can't have 2 mortgages. So we had to rent........sight unseen........which we found out at the end of December is nearly impossible to do in our new state. Lucky for us the realtor in the new location was willing to walk through a property for us.

So imagine, prior to Christmas we think we are buying a house, days before Christmas we find out we have nowhere to live. Makes for a joyful Christmas right? Well lucky for us the excitement of the kiddos rubs off. We made it through Christmas and into New Years, still with no housing. Lucky for us the real estate agency approved our application to rent days before we were scheduled to move.

We had packers come Tuesday January 8, they finished on the 9th and the truck was loaded that day as well. Also lucky for us the driver promised us delivery that Friday! So we set off really late Wednesday the 9th for our new destination, 2 cars loaded with 1 driver each and 2 kiddos. My hubby had the joy of driving with our cat as well. The family arrived late Thursday afternoon at our new location and we had a camp-out in the master bedroom.  Early the next morning arrived our moving van and we started the process of settling in. Let me tell you that this house has some interesting quirks...... (though I'll have to save those for another post or two or three).

So that was the first half of my month of the new year, thus the extremely late "Happy New Year!"