I am pretty sure that is how I am going to feel in about 2 months from now - having a million dollar smile. Literally. :) It's not even close to an exaggeration as I am witnessing it right now. I don't go to some fancy dentist, but it doesn't matter because this stuff is going to cost person a fortune wherever they go.
I've known for a few years now that eventually I'm going to need an implant for my front tooth which became very crooked after having kids from my bad gum disease. This year I finally said I would do it. And now I am wishing I said "not yet". Not because I'm nervous about what it's going to look like (even though I'm terrified of having the witch smile for a couple months before it's permanent) but because every time I go see my dentist I find out how such and such will have to get done and the price tag just keeps going up and up. Pretty much all of our extra money for this year will go to pay for this stupid smile of mine. Yes, I am just a little bit bitter about it and it just feels so wrong to spend so much money for a nicer smile.
They are actually going to pull 2 teeth out that are right next to each other and replace them with an implant. The big question is whether they can do it with just putting in one implant or two because that would save me about $2800. I still don't know for sure because they're being very wishy-washy about it. They say it's doable but they don't recommend it because it's not as strong as with 2 implants and what if something happens to that tooth that just hangs on the side and so on. Another big issue is as I just found out that the 2 remaining teeth would look just ridiculous with the 2 fake teeth next to them so they're saying they need to do a half crown on those 2 so all 4 of them look nice and even. And that's how the cost of this smile just keeps growing bigger and bigger. It's pretty depressing to me but at the same time I feel like I have no choice about it.
So, in about a month I will go through the first part of the procedure to pull the teeth out and put the implant inside the bone. It will take anywhere from 2-6 months after that to get to the final fake smile that will stay in my mouth forever. I will try to take a lot of pictures in between (some may be VERY gross) so you can see what they did to me. :)
I guess everyone has something in their life, my "thing" just happens to be teeth, of all things. See, if some awful sickness, car accident or disaster happens to a person it is very natural to hang on tight and do whatever it takes to get better or out of the situation. But when it comes to a new smile, it just isn't the same and I can't help but feel like I am wasting this huge amount of money that only movie stars spend because they can.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
it never gets easier
Somehow it never gets easier for me when our kids get closer to going to kindergarten. With Anika having her birthday in September I've had her home a year longer but still today came and a big part of me is really sad to see her growing up.
Today was Kindergarten roundup at her school and all the kids going to kindergarten (that's one grade before 1st grade but really it is as if they were going to 1st grade) came to meet their new teachers. I was surprised at how many kids came with both parents. I was the odd one in Ani's class with no husband there and it didn't even occur to me to ask Ehren to come. It really wasn't a big deal, not like the first day of school, but it was really fun. We have talked about going to see the kindergarten teacher for a couple of weeks now so both girls were excited. Emily is also going to be in kindergarten and I requested them to split the girls apart mainly because Anika is very attached to her and will not leave Emily's side when they're in a group of kids. I am really hoping she will find new friends there and will get over some of her shyness because I hear that in preschool she doesn't say much to anyone which is not like her at all. She loves kids and playing with them and when she's all alone she doesn't know what to do with herself, but she's also very shy if she doesn't know the kids well. But that's part of kindergarten and getting more socially ready.
The parents left their kids in their classrooms for about 40 minutes while we had the principal, the lunch coordinator, busing director, the school nurse and some other people talk to us about how everything functions and what's expected, etc. The cafeteria was just packed with parents and looking around I was surprised at how many people in the community I know that have their kids going to kindergarten with Emily and Anika. It's going to be a good grade. :)
But it never stops being sad for me as we get closer to one of our kids going to kindergarten. It was sad with Kade although back then they only had half days kindergarten. For Anika, it will mean getting on the bus at 7:30am and coming home at 3:30pm which is a long time for me to not see her. :( It seems to me like the kids change so much during kindergarten. They get so much more independent and responsible, which Anika already is both of those. She doesn't want me to help her with anything and she is so responsible for her "jobs" or chores. Ehren and I were just talking the other day how she gets up in the morning and before she does anything else, she rushes to feed her cat. Every day, we don't need to say anything or remind her to do something like we do with Kade. Partly it's probably a girl thing and partly she loves taking care of anyone and she could probably do all of my job of taking care of the babies if I let her. :)
It is also interesting to me how much the curriculum changes for kindergarten over the years. When I was little we didn't have to know hardly anything going to 1st grade while now there is a whole list of skills they need to learn before even kindergarten starts. By the end of kindergarten they want all the kids to read and write, count to 100, learn all the coins and figuring out money, clock and other things I forget. So it is a lot to work on and it's not just fun and games like when we were in kindergarten. I do know that kids learn so much at that age, especially reading is so good to work on but I do wonder sometimes if they push them to do too much too soon like writing and cutting which can be hard for little kids that don't enjoy drawing.
But the school year is almost done and we have summer vacation to look forward to. I get to spend it with 7 and some days 8 kids in the house. :) Every summer we first have a couple weeks of complete chaos, kids wanting to do everything at once or else fighting over everything and not knowing what to do with all their time. So I am starting to think of having a schedule with activities that will break up our days better. One of the things I want to do is to have a lesson of Slovak a few times a week with all the kids. I have no idea how it will go with 2 18 month olds running around and not wanting to sit still but at least I'll try. The biggest thing is to always think ahead about lunches and snacks because x 8 is a lot of food in one day. But this summer I want to start strong and enjoy having my kids at home all day versus constant arguing and telling them what to do. So I need to keep remembering the house will be very quiet in the Fall when I will only have 3 kiddos at home during the day.
Today was Kindergarten roundup at her school and all the kids going to kindergarten (that's one grade before 1st grade but really it is as if they were going to 1st grade) came to meet their new teachers. I was surprised at how many kids came with both parents. I was the odd one in Ani's class with no husband there and it didn't even occur to me to ask Ehren to come. It really wasn't a big deal, not like the first day of school, but it was really fun. We have talked about going to see the kindergarten teacher for a couple of weeks now so both girls were excited. Emily is also going to be in kindergarten and I requested them to split the girls apart mainly because Anika is very attached to her and will not leave Emily's side when they're in a group of kids. I am really hoping she will find new friends there and will get over some of her shyness because I hear that in preschool she doesn't say much to anyone which is not like her at all. She loves kids and playing with them and when she's all alone she doesn't know what to do with herself, but she's also very shy if she doesn't know the kids well. But that's part of kindergarten and getting more socially ready.
The parents left their kids in their classrooms for about 40 minutes while we had the principal, the lunch coordinator, busing director, the school nurse and some other people talk to us about how everything functions and what's expected, etc. The cafeteria was just packed with parents and looking around I was surprised at how many people in the community I know that have their kids going to kindergarten with Emily and Anika. It's going to be a good grade. :)
But it never stops being sad for me as we get closer to one of our kids going to kindergarten. It was sad with Kade although back then they only had half days kindergarten. For Anika, it will mean getting on the bus at 7:30am and coming home at 3:30pm which is a long time for me to not see her. :( It seems to me like the kids change so much during kindergarten. They get so much more independent and responsible, which Anika already is both of those. She doesn't want me to help her with anything and she is so responsible for her "jobs" or chores. Ehren and I were just talking the other day how she gets up in the morning and before she does anything else, she rushes to feed her cat. Every day, we don't need to say anything or remind her to do something like we do with Kade. Partly it's probably a girl thing and partly she loves taking care of anyone and she could probably do all of my job of taking care of the babies if I let her. :)
It is also interesting to me how much the curriculum changes for kindergarten over the years. When I was little we didn't have to know hardly anything going to 1st grade while now there is a whole list of skills they need to learn before even kindergarten starts. By the end of kindergarten they want all the kids to read and write, count to 100, learn all the coins and figuring out money, clock and other things I forget. So it is a lot to work on and it's not just fun and games like when we were in kindergarten. I do know that kids learn so much at that age, especially reading is so good to work on but I do wonder sometimes if they push them to do too much too soon like writing and cutting which can be hard for little kids that don't enjoy drawing.
But the school year is almost done and we have summer vacation to look forward to. I get to spend it with 7 and some days 8 kids in the house. :) Every summer we first have a couple weeks of complete chaos, kids wanting to do everything at once or else fighting over everything and not knowing what to do with all their time. So I am starting to think of having a schedule with activities that will break up our days better. One of the things I want to do is to have a lesson of Slovak a few times a week with all the kids. I have no idea how it will go with 2 18 month olds running around and not wanting to sit still but at least I'll try. The biggest thing is to always think ahead about lunches and snacks because x 8 is a lot of food in one day. But this summer I want to start strong and enjoy having my kids at home all day versus constant arguing and telling them what to do. So I need to keep remembering the house will be very quiet in the Fall when I will only have 3 kiddos at home during the day.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
a teenage moment
Funny how kids' problems can get so much bigger the bigger they get. They have their own mind, thinking they know everything best and many times they don't like their parents very much. As fun as it is watching them grow, it's also getting harder to parent them, to be wise about what to say and how to deal with situations.
Today I got a bit of a glimpse of what it will feel like having pre teens or teenagers. Kade came home with another birthday invitation after he just went to one of his very good friends a couple weeks ago. I wasn't going to say anything, after all he doesn't have that many friends that invite him to a birthday party but then he says "and it is a sleepover". Right away I am asking who the boy is and since I never met him or his parents I am explaining to Kade why there's no way he can have a sleepover there, but he can wait for dad to come home to talk about it. Kade kept telling me how this boy is very nice, always plays nice with him and stuff but I said to just wait for dad to come home and that I don't like it at all. I think in a way he thought dad would let him go, but right away Ehren's words were "I am with mom on this" to which Kade had a little bit of a teenager reaction. He just burst into tears, half yelling half crying, having a bit of a melt down saying "why can't I go?". I explained to him he can still go to the birthday party, but we'll pick him up at bedtime. This was during our dinner so he pretty much moped and cried the whole time, during which I told him we probably need a new rule in our family, that if we don't know someone's parents our kids can't sleep over at their house. Of course Kade was crying that he's going to be the only one who doesn't stay for a sleepover and so on. For a moment I felt bad, I know how much friendships mean to Kade and to feel included on things but as a parent I have to make choices that are not so nice sometime. I am a parent, not Kade's best friend and it's ok for him to not like me at times. Because it happens to every parent unless they just let their kids do whatever they want. And I also think we're living in a little different age now with so many horror stories all around us that make us parents want to protect our kids from the outside dangers. I get it you can't protect them from everything and everyone but if I am able to, I will do what I can. I have to say though, I was really surprised that Kade's little pouting didn't last long at all and by the time our dinner was done he was back to his self. He reacted, processed it and understood that he's not going to win on this and let it go. It just shows how it's good to stick to your decision even if they have a "tantrum" because they get over it sooner than we think and most of all they love having parents that give them boundaries and rules to follow. I asked Kade later if he still wanted to go to the party since he can't sleep there (partly wishing he would say no :)) but he said he did so we'll see how it goes and when it's time to go home, I am sure he'll be upset over again because other boys get to stay there.
I am glad we didn't give in this time because it is just one of many many things that will come up as he gets older. All the things his friends get to do and he doesn't, but he's just fine. He gets over it and forgets all about it. And I am positive he'll grow up to be stronger because he was told no at times when it mattered. And I'm not saying Ehren and I will always be on top of those things that matter most, or that we're so good at this - not at all, but we have to keep going and have to follow what we believe because everywhere around us people are letting things go, little by little and soon we don't even know who and what is the center of our homes. I pray God gives us wisdom to do the right thing in the situations that will come up in the future because there will be too many to count.
Today I got a bit of a glimpse of what it will feel like having pre teens or teenagers. Kade came home with another birthday invitation after he just went to one of his very good friends a couple weeks ago. I wasn't going to say anything, after all he doesn't have that many friends that invite him to a birthday party but then he says "and it is a sleepover". Right away I am asking who the boy is and since I never met him or his parents I am explaining to Kade why there's no way he can have a sleepover there, but he can wait for dad to come home to talk about it. Kade kept telling me how this boy is very nice, always plays nice with him and stuff but I said to just wait for dad to come home and that I don't like it at all. I think in a way he thought dad would let him go, but right away Ehren's words were "I am with mom on this" to which Kade had a little bit of a teenager reaction. He just burst into tears, half yelling half crying, having a bit of a melt down saying "why can't I go?". I explained to him he can still go to the birthday party, but we'll pick him up at bedtime. This was during our dinner so he pretty much moped and cried the whole time, during which I told him we probably need a new rule in our family, that if we don't know someone's parents our kids can't sleep over at their house. Of course Kade was crying that he's going to be the only one who doesn't stay for a sleepover and so on. For a moment I felt bad, I know how much friendships mean to Kade and to feel included on things but as a parent I have to make choices that are not so nice sometime. I am a parent, not Kade's best friend and it's ok for him to not like me at times. Because it happens to every parent unless they just let their kids do whatever they want. And I also think we're living in a little different age now with so many horror stories all around us that make us parents want to protect our kids from the outside dangers. I get it you can't protect them from everything and everyone but if I am able to, I will do what I can. I have to say though, I was really surprised that Kade's little pouting didn't last long at all and by the time our dinner was done he was back to his self. He reacted, processed it and understood that he's not going to win on this and let it go. It just shows how it's good to stick to your decision even if they have a "tantrum" because they get over it sooner than we think and most of all they love having parents that give them boundaries and rules to follow. I asked Kade later if he still wanted to go to the party since he can't sleep there (partly wishing he would say no :)) but he said he did so we'll see how it goes and when it's time to go home, I am sure he'll be upset over again because other boys get to stay there.
I am glad we didn't give in this time because it is just one of many many things that will come up as he gets older. All the things his friends get to do and he doesn't, but he's just fine. He gets over it and forgets all about it. And I am positive he'll grow up to be stronger because he was told no at times when it mattered. And I'm not saying Ehren and I will always be on top of those things that matter most, or that we're so good at this - not at all, but we have to keep going and have to follow what we believe because everywhere around us people are letting things go, little by little and soon we don't even know who and what is the center of our homes. I pray God gives us wisdom to do the right thing in the situations that will come up in the future because there will be too many to count.
Monday, April 16, 2012
my handyman
Ehren is turning into quite the handy guy. It took him a few years because he never thought he could do stuff until he tried it and his confidence just grew from there. A lot of people saw the recent thing he built, a sofa table and I found the inspiration on pinterest, of course. We both love the way it turned out and everyone that sees it can't believe Ehren made that. Then a few weeks ago Ehren got some old barn wood from his uncle's barn and went to town on building an entertainment center for the big screen tv. It took some time because he never had a whole day to work on it, just couple hours here and there but it turned out fabulous. It is a lot like the Pottery Barn and stores like it that would sell it for hundreds of dollars. At first I thought I would stain it the same stain we used for the sofa table, but we tried it and it didn't look nice on that kind of wood and you would lose a lot of the character of the wood. So now I have a list of furniture pieces that I'd love Ehren to build :) but it will take some time. I need a similar table to the sofa table for our kitchen to use for all the kids' backpacks and school papers. You would not believe how much stuff kids keep bringing home from school every week and next Fall it will be times 3. And more than anything I hate clutter so we need something like that to stay organized better. Then there is a dining room table I really want but that will be a long project and mainly we need to find barn wood big enough to do a long table.
I just have to say I am really proud of Ehren because it didn't come natural to him, nobody showed him how it's done, but he gave it his best and now he's starting to think of his own projects. The tv stand is something he just thought of in his head, made sure the center speaker would fit right in it and went to work. Growing up with an engineer dad who could build just about anything, even fitting it right in some very imperfect walls, it wasn't always easy to let go of that idea for Ehren in my head. I realized early on that it's just not his strength and I wasn't going to push him. Yet, all of a sudden he is figuring it out and already has done more than a lot of the guys his age, even guys that can build stuff because somehow those projects are usually people's last ones on the list after work, family obligations, and other stuff. I'm glad it matters to Ehren because it is so nice to look at a piece of furniture in our home and say "we built this". I say "we" because I am the instigator most of the times and finding pictures/ideas that looks like what I want :) and somehow I manage to come up with a new project before he's even done with one. I'm sure that doesn't happen to many wives. :)
I also have to mention something about our family's newest addition - a car. :) Ehren's old Malibu is on its last miles and served us so well for 5+ years and we only paid $1500 for it so it was a really good investment. But now we were in a situation that if it all of a sudden died we would have to just buy whatever car we'd come across and so Ehren has been looking for different deals out there. He always loved nissan and he was looking at nissan muranos but they were a bit too much money most of the times. This one that was for sale a couple weeks ago was a good deal, below its value. It's a 2005 and has a lot of miles on it but Nissan can have a lot of miles on it and still be great. So we pulled the plug on it and now Ehren has a new car. It is his 40th birthday present and he really deserves it for working so hard to provide for us. It is by far the nicest car he's ever had and he couldn't be more excited. Actually, I have to say I love it too and whenever I can I want to drive it. When I'm in it I just feel like I'm in someone else's car, that it can't possibly belong to us because it's so nice. Ehren and I were just talking about how much a lot of people in TRF are so hung up on having brand new cars. People get these outrageous cars with huge car payments, and they live in a house that's falling apart. That is a little bit of how it feels and I am the odd one when I never really cared. I love my older van and I never even wished to have a brand new car, only to maybe have more seats so I can drive all the kids to town when there's no school. So now it feels very strange to own this nice car. To many it probably isn't even that nice because it's older but to us it is like being served as a king. :) I feel very blessed that we were able to get it and at the same time I want to make sure we don't take things like that for granted. Our kids know that this is our nice car and they have to be very careful in it. Ehren already made that very clear to them. :) At the same time, I really want to get up every morning and be ok with losing any of our posessions. Be ok with losing our beautiful house or cars or whatever is from this world and when we are ok with it, we are in the right place. Because you can't take any of it with you when you die and the really important things in this life are not the ones we own mainly because we never owned them in the first place. It's nice to keep reminding ourselves that whatever we have is from God and is His, it's not ours to keep and was never ours anyway.
I just have to say I am really proud of Ehren because it didn't come natural to him, nobody showed him how it's done, but he gave it his best and now he's starting to think of his own projects. The tv stand is something he just thought of in his head, made sure the center speaker would fit right in it and went to work. Growing up with an engineer dad who could build just about anything, even fitting it right in some very imperfect walls, it wasn't always easy to let go of that idea for Ehren in my head. I realized early on that it's just not his strength and I wasn't going to push him. Yet, all of a sudden he is figuring it out and already has done more than a lot of the guys his age, even guys that can build stuff because somehow those projects are usually people's last ones on the list after work, family obligations, and other stuff. I'm glad it matters to Ehren because it is so nice to look at a piece of furniture in our home and say "we built this". I say "we" because I am the instigator most of the times and finding pictures/ideas that looks like what I want :) and somehow I manage to come up with a new project before he's even done with one. I'm sure that doesn't happen to many wives. :)
I also have to mention something about our family's newest addition - a car. :) Ehren's old Malibu is on its last miles and served us so well for 5+ years and we only paid $1500 for it so it was a really good investment. But now we were in a situation that if it all of a sudden died we would have to just buy whatever car we'd come across and so Ehren has been looking for different deals out there. He always loved nissan and he was looking at nissan muranos but they were a bit too much money most of the times. This one that was for sale a couple weeks ago was a good deal, below its value. It's a 2005 and has a lot of miles on it but Nissan can have a lot of miles on it and still be great. So we pulled the plug on it and now Ehren has a new car. It is his 40th birthday present and he really deserves it for working so hard to provide for us. It is by far the nicest car he's ever had and he couldn't be more excited. Actually, I have to say I love it too and whenever I can I want to drive it. When I'm in it I just feel like I'm in someone else's car, that it can't possibly belong to us because it's so nice. Ehren and I were just talking about how much a lot of people in TRF are so hung up on having brand new cars. People get these outrageous cars with huge car payments, and they live in a house that's falling apart. That is a little bit of how it feels and I am the odd one when I never really cared. I love my older van and I never even wished to have a brand new car, only to maybe have more seats so I can drive all the kids to town when there's no school. So now it feels very strange to own this nice car. To many it probably isn't even that nice because it's older but to us it is like being served as a king. :) I feel very blessed that we were able to get it and at the same time I want to make sure we don't take things like that for granted. Our kids know that this is our nice car and they have to be very careful in it. Ehren already made that very clear to them. :) At the same time, I really want to get up every morning and be ok with losing any of our posessions. Be ok with losing our beautiful house or cars or whatever is from this world and when we are ok with it, we are in the right place. Because you can't take any of it with you when you die and the really important things in this life are not the ones we own mainly because we never owned them in the first place. It's nice to keep reminding ourselves that whatever we have is from God and is His, it's not ours to keep and was never ours anyway.
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| the sofa table |
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| tv stand |
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| the Murrano |
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| Lake Bemidji - Kason loved climbing this rock |
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| Lake Bemidji, on our latest trip to the cabin |
Monday, April 9, 2012
Easter with the cousins
It is so nice having 2 of Ehren's siblings so close now and we get to spend almost all the holidays together. Easter egg hunt is just one of the things the kids really look forward to. Even though it was a bit cold, kids loved looking for the plastic eggs all over Mark & Audrey's yard. It is just fun to watch them having fun together and enjoying each other. Aveah is the youngest at 18 months so no more babies in the family, at least for now. It is both nice and sad. It is definitely easier to get together as the kids are getting older which is great for us moms. Ingrid brought her Easter story eggs which basically goes through the whole story from the Bible, remembering little details of each stage that Jesus and people around him went through. Kids really enjoyed opening those eggs and finding out what the next piece of the story was. It was good to start with the real meaning of Easter too before we had a good meal and the egg hunt.
I grew up looking for an Easter basket at our house but I haven't really implemented it yet with our kids because I thought they got enough candy and stuff at the egg hunt. But this year I thought, it doesn't have to be much and it will make the kids so excited to do something just with them at our house, not with all the cousins. A while ago I bought a couple Christian books for Kade which we were just going to give him to read, but I kept them so I would put them in the basket for him. Then I bought a little book for Kason and a little painting book for Ani. I had to get a Lindt chocolate bunny for each of them though :) because it's a thing from my childhood. So kids went to bed on Saturday night not knowing anything because if I told them about it they would be up before 6am. I hid 8 or 9 plastic eggs around the house with messages inside them and the kids had a little scavenger hunt for the basket. I actually didn't even tell them what they were looking for in the end so they were so excited to discover the basket. I put messages in the eggs like :"find me where a girl sleeps", "find me where the food cooks", "find me where the clothes get washed" so they were pretty easy for all the kids to guess and they had a blast looking for the clues. I was really glad I took the 15 minutes the night before to do that because it meant so much to the kids. It really doesn't need to be anything big or overly done, just a simple game and they are so excited about it. I'm going to have to come up with a bunch of games like those for this summer when the school is done because I know the days are coming when they'll say there's nothing to do and they're bored. :)
I grew up looking for an Easter basket at our house but I haven't really implemented it yet with our kids because I thought they got enough candy and stuff at the egg hunt. But this year I thought, it doesn't have to be much and it will make the kids so excited to do something just with them at our house, not with all the cousins. A while ago I bought a couple Christian books for Kade which we were just going to give him to read, but I kept them so I would put them in the basket for him. Then I bought a little book for Kason and a little painting book for Ani. I had to get a Lindt chocolate bunny for each of them though :) because it's a thing from my childhood. So kids went to bed on Saturday night not knowing anything because if I told them about it they would be up before 6am. I hid 8 or 9 plastic eggs around the house with messages inside them and the kids had a little scavenger hunt for the basket. I actually didn't even tell them what they were looking for in the end so they were so excited to discover the basket. I put messages in the eggs like :"find me where a girl sleeps", "find me where the food cooks", "find me where the clothes get washed" so they were pretty easy for all the kids to guess and they had a blast looking for the clues. I was really glad I took the 15 minutes the night before to do that because it meant so much to the kids. It really doesn't need to be anything big or overly done, just a simple game and they are so excited about it. I'm going to have to come up with a bunch of games like those for this summer when the school is done because I know the days are coming when they'll say there's nothing to do and they're bored. :)
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| I tried to sneak up on them because they were playing so nice together but they saw me coming. |
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| Add caption |
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| the bunny cake |
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| little buddies |
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| our kiddos |
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| let the egg hunt begin |
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| going through the Easter story |
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| let's see what we got |
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| 7 of the 9 Hanson cousins |
Friday, April 6, 2012
Good Friday or Great Friday (in SK)
I am still undecided about the whole chiropractor stuff and if it really helps in most situations. Sure, I hear lots of people say how it helps them so much with their migraines or different pains but I am a born skeptic, a "Thomas" and I have to feel it on my own skin to believe it. :)
I have had this lower back pain for about 3 weeks now. I am pretty sure my increased running is what trigerred it this time. So about a couple weeks ago when it seemed to get worse after my runs I went to see a chiropractor. The first 2-3 times I couldn't tell any difference whatsoever and then one day after I got adjusted something happened and the pain was 100% worse than when I first went to the chiropractor. So I had a bit of a dilemma, do I keep going and see if he messes me up even more or what do I do? The day after I could barely get out of bed and was in a lot of pain all day, like something was pinching a nerve in my lower back. That was last Saturday so when Monday came around I went in again just so I could tell him how much worse he made me feel. :) He said sometimes when he's adjusting the back it can slip down and hit a nerve and when that happens I need to come in asap. It didn't make any sense to me, but whatever. One more day of barely any improvement but the chiropractor told me I needed to come in every morning. In my mind I thought, ok buddy. You have one week and then I'm done if there's no difference. Lucky for him, on Wednesday something finally clicked after he did it and I felt so much better. It felt like the pressure on the nerve was relieved so it wasn't that constant sharp pain anymore. Today is Friday and I think I'm starting to trust the guy a bit more. He says how my back must have been out of line for years and so it's not a quick fix. That would explain my lower back pain I've had on and off for years and me asking Ehren to rub his thumbs numb on my lower back sometime. It would usually start hurting from carrying babies around too much or any time I started running more which I just did a month ago. And every time I didn't think anything of it because it went away after resting but I guess the problem has always been there, it would just get inflamed with putting more stress on it.
Today it feels a lot better and that's great, but I am still bummed because I can't run and all the running I did until now was for nothing because I'll have to start from scratch when I do start again. I'm thinking that I may not be able to do the Fargo half marathon in May, luckily I think you can postpone your registration to the next year so I should be able to run it then. I know I could run/walk it but then what's the point? I can walk 13 miles anywhere, I don't need to go to a race for that.
So that's been occupying my days the last 2 weeks or so. Today is Good Friday and I still think it's strange that it's not considered a holiday in the US and besides kids not having school, everything is business as usual. In Slovakia most people don't work, we would go to church instead. Our church here had a Thursday evening service last night and it was so nice. Not many people came but it was still very nice and meant a lot to me to prepare my heart for Easter. Seems like people are so rushed now with all their activities and even holidays like Easter are a big race to get the house clean, cook for a big family gathering and stuff, but it is nice to have a time in the middle of it to stop and ponder on what Jesus has done for us and how nothing will ever even compare to that. I wish more people in our church did that. Sure, they don't miss a hockey game or a birthday party their kids have been invited to, but they miss going to church without a second thought. Makes me very sad and at the same time I am so grateful to my parents who always made going to church a priority. When I was in 3-4th grade, I was in a sport after school called summer biathlon and I loved it. It was always during the week with occasional Saturday races. But then our coach had to put in a practice day for Sunday mornings which would be the hard running days so it wasn't good to miss it. Back then, especially in the post communist country going to church was not heard of much or if you said you did it didn't mean you went every Sunday. But my dad went to talk to the coach and explained how church is number 1 for our family and everything else is after that, even though I really wanted to be on a team. And guess what, I was just fine without going on Sundays and it didn't hurt me one bit. Yes, some kids were asking how come I don't come on Sundays but that's a good thing for children to go through and explain to their peers. Because kids are so much more capable of standing up for what they believe than many people give them credit for. And it's lessons like that they will not forget when they are parents one day.
Peace and Stillness be with you this Easter weekend so you can focus on the true meaning without too many distractions.
I have had this lower back pain for about 3 weeks now. I am pretty sure my increased running is what trigerred it this time. So about a couple weeks ago when it seemed to get worse after my runs I went to see a chiropractor. The first 2-3 times I couldn't tell any difference whatsoever and then one day after I got adjusted something happened and the pain was 100% worse than when I first went to the chiropractor. So I had a bit of a dilemma, do I keep going and see if he messes me up even more or what do I do? The day after I could barely get out of bed and was in a lot of pain all day, like something was pinching a nerve in my lower back. That was last Saturday so when Monday came around I went in again just so I could tell him how much worse he made me feel. :) He said sometimes when he's adjusting the back it can slip down and hit a nerve and when that happens I need to come in asap. It didn't make any sense to me, but whatever. One more day of barely any improvement but the chiropractor told me I needed to come in every morning. In my mind I thought, ok buddy. You have one week and then I'm done if there's no difference. Lucky for him, on Wednesday something finally clicked after he did it and I felt so much better. It felt like the pressure on the nerve was relieved so it wasn't that constant sharp pain anymore. Today is Friday and I think I'm starting to trust the guy a bit more. He says how my back must have been out of line for years and so it's not a quick fix. That would explain my lower back pain I've had on and off for years and me asking Ehren to rub his thumbs numb on my lower back sometime. It would usually start hurting from carrying babies around too much or any time I started running more which I just did a month ago. And every time I didn't think anything of it because it went away after resting but I guess the problem has always been there, it would just get inflamed with putting more stress on it.
Today it feels a lot better and that's great, but I am still bummed because I can't run and all the running I did until now was for nothing because I'll have to start from scratch when I do start again. I'm thinking that I may not be able to do the Fargo half marathon in May, luckily I think you can postpone your registration to the next year so I should be able to run it then. I know I could run/walk it but then what's the point? I can walk 13 miles anywhere, I don't need to go to a race for that.
So that's been occupying my days the last 2 weeks or so. Today is Good Friday and I still think it's strange that it's not considered a holiday in the US and besides kids not having school, everything is business as usual. In Slovakia most people don't work, we would go to church instead. Our church here had a Thursday evening service last night and it was so nice. Not many people came but it was still very nice and meant a lot to me to prepare my heart for Easter. Seems like people are so rushed now with all their activities and even holidays like Easter are a big race to get the house clean, cook for a big family gathering and stuff, but it is nice to have a time in the middle of it to stop and ponder on what Jesus has done for us and how nothing will ever even compare to that. I wish more people in our church did that. Sure, they don't miss a hockey game or a birthday party their kids have been invited to, but they miss going to church without a second thought. Makes me very sad and at the same time I am so grateful to my parents who always made going to church a priority. When I was in 3-4th grade, I was in a sport after school called summer biathlon and I loved it. It was always during the week with occasional Saturday races. But then our coach had to put in a practice day for Sunday mornings which would be the hard running days so it wasn't good to miss it. Back then, especially in the post communist country going to church was not heard of much or if you said you did it didn't mean you went every Sunday. But my dad went to talk to the coach and explained how church is number 1 for our family and everything else is after that, even though I really wanted to be on a team. And guess what, I was just fine without going on Sundays and it didn't hurt me one bit. Yes, some kids were asking how come I don't come on Sundays but that's a good thing for children to go through and explain to their peers. Because kids are so much more capable of standing up for what they believe than many people give them credit for. And it's lessons like that they will not forget when they are parents one day.
Peace and Stillness be with you this Easter weekend so you can focus on the true meaning without too many distractions.
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