Family

Family is complex.

Let's see...

I have a mother, a father, an ex-step-father, a mother-in-law, a father-in-law, one brother, a brother and sister in heaven, two brothers-in-law and two sisters-in-law, a niece and a nephew.

At lunch the other day, Dustin asked, "Mommy, who is YOUR mommy and daddy?"

Well, umm... it's complicated, dear.

"My mommy is Gramma Rita, and my daddy is Grampa Hank."

"Who's Grampa Hank?"

Well, umm... it's complicated, dear.

"Grampa Hank is my daddy, but he doesn't talk to us any more."

"Have I ever met him?"

"No, honey, you haven't."

Joshua chimes in, "Have *I* met him?"

"Yes, sweetie, but you were younger than Meaghan is now. You were only 4 months old the last time he saw you."

"Why don't we ever see him?"

"Well, Grampa Hank has decided that he doesn't really like how Mommy & Daddy live. He doesn't like that we love God. He has decided not to talk to us any more because we love Jesus and won't compromise on some of the things Jesus talks about in the Bible."

"So he doesn't like us?"

"Umm, I don't know, honey. I don't think he really does, or else he would've tried to talk to us by now. We've tried, but he won't. But I think that if he did at least try to know you, he would like you. But he won't bother."

By now, Joshua's wheels are turning. I knew what was coming.

"But Mommy, I thought your Daddy was Grampa Allen!"

Well, umm... it's complicated, dear.

"My mommy and daddy didn't stay married. They stopped loving each other and decided to live apart a few years ago. My mommy married another man, Grampa Allen."

"But Mommy, people aren't allowed to marry other people!"

Hm. See how complicated it gets?

We haven't told him yet that Grampa Allen is no longer in the picture either...

...but last night, Graeme's parents were babysitting the boys, and Joshua & Dustin was telling them all about how Grampa Hank never sees us because he doesn't like us...

Oh, honeys... you know this isn't about you? You know that sometimes people sin and make bad choices? You know that if he DID know you, he would love you? Sometimes people choose not to love... sometimes people choose not to be involve because of their own hangups... sometimes people are so hurting that they don't even know how to start healing brokenness...?

I am thankful for the people who surround us even more steadfastly than family does...

Pretty in Purple

Crawling...

Sitting pretty...

Loved....

...and loving in return...

...and exploring... pretty girls must learn how to conquer their worlds!

*I'm in love*

Changes

So,

Now that we've sold the business...

...and now that Graeme had 8 weeks off and we went to Maui....

...and now that he's been back at work for about 3 weeks working for his ex-business partner...

...the next step is in place.

Graeme will be starting work for the Fort Saskatchewan Primary Care Network in the middle of April. It will only be a 0.4 position at this point, so he will continue to work for Conrad for several months yet.

The landscape of pharmacy is changing. The nature of a pharmacist's role is evolving. Graeme is on the leading edge of those changes, and so his role in this multidisciplinary clinic-style medical office will be much different from the days of standing behind the counter and filling vials with medications and counselling a patient with a cash register between them.

This is a brand new Primary Care Network, and so Graeme is part of a fresh crop of professionals that will collaborate in the care of complicated patients. He is excited, and therefore, so am I!

The weeks are getting harder

...and yet I don't feel like I have the right to complain...

...even though I have some form of leg injury, making it painful to run or do much else, at least I'm not stuck in a cast from ankle to thigh - I can at least do *something*.

...even though I am not eating as well as I should (which means "clean eating", which fuels me and doesn't drag me down), I am thankful that we are able to have company over and are on our way out the door tonight to a wedding reception.

...even though the weight has not been coming off this week thanks to the above two points, at least I've lost 30 lbs so far. I should really be more thankful.

But I'm tired. I'm worn out. Every step of exercise is a really hard decision. My days are completely mixed up, I'm not sleeping well, my routines are completely mucked with, and I'm frustrated. And my motivation is seriously waning.

But it's only temporary.

I need to shower and get out the door soon for that wedding reception.

The difference between boys and girls

When Joshua was a baby, the first thing he did with a wax crayon involved opening his mouth, inserting said crayon, and chomping until all matter of blue color chipped off and filled his happy little mouth.

When Dustin was a baby, the first thing he did with a wax crayon involved opening his mouth, inserting said crayon, and chomping until all matter of blue color chipped off and filled his happy little mouth.

When Meaghan was a baby - oh wait, she still is a baby - she grabbed a red crayon that her eldest brother left laying around.

Instead of shoving the thing into her mouth and chomping happily, she promptly crawled over to the piece of paper he left laying on the floor 5 feet away, and started scribbling on her new white canvas.

I'd like to think it was the "red" nature of the crayon that made her do such a thing - we've never shown her how to color!

However, I think I know better...

...God created girlies to color.

She was so proud of herself! She did a marvellous job of scribbling!

And THEN she started chomping on the crayon. She is, after all, still related to her brothers!

Mini Eggs Are Evil

How is a girl on a weight-loss challenge supposed to get ANYWHERE with Cadbury Mini Eggs kicking around?

Really.

Soooo good... soooo horrible for me.

But so good. So. Good.

*sigh*

BLAH ba de blah blah blah...

Here I am again! :)

I can't believe it... but today the scale cooperated. My body finally *let go* of the amassed fluid etc from the pizza and other junk I ate in recent days.

I am down another 2 lbs.

This is huge cause for celebration... as of today, I am officially 30 lbs lighter than I was in the fall. And I feel pretty amazing.

But I'm not done... this weight-loss train is still pretty far from the station, and the motivation of these last 2 lbs today is pretty huge. I needed it, 'cuz it was getting hard.

A first for me last night - I ran 3 miles non-stop. Not even a water break, not even a short 30-second walking break. Nope, just plugged along. I've never (not even in high school when I ran provincially) run 3 miles non-stop. I feel pretty good about that!

Here's coming up on another week... but first, today will be a day of "active rest". I've done 9 days pretty hard-core with exercise, and my left leg is protesting a bit with an injury, so today will be easy; maybe a walk or something like that instead.

Time to pack up our swimming gear and think about heading to the pool to meet Lisa, Hudson, and Talliah!! First, I'll let Meaghan nap just a little while longer, though...

..and soon, I promise I'll have something to blog about other than BLAH!

Full moon

Normally my kids react a bit to the full moon.

I could've sworn today was *it*.

It isn't.  It's not for another week.

What gives?  They've fought, cried, screamed, irritated each other, and been horrible more in the first half hour today than they were all week last week.

Meaghan is screaming constantly today.  She's *off*.

I could rent 'em out.  For free.  I wouldn't even charge.

I'm a bit discouraged this week with workouts & such, too... I've been running tons - last night did a 5.99 mile run on the track at Millennium - it wasn't till I got home that I calculated the per-lap thing and found that I was just shy of a full 6 miles.  Oh yes, and then I capped it off with a 25.69 km bike ride on a level 10.  My workouts this week have all been 60-90 minutes of red-faced drippy/sweaty intensity.

And the weight is not budging this week.

I *think* it's the food this week, though am not sure.  I love having company over, but they're just not going to go for plain-jane veggies and 3 oz of meat and 1/2 cup of brown rice.  I've not been *bad* overall, so I'm just not sure what's going on!

It could be a plateau.. but really, if it's a case of "the math" like Jillian says, then I should be down a good 2 lbs this week... but I'm not.  I'm a little frustrated.  Today I'm hitting it with green tea and veggies and fruit, and we'll see if we can't get my body to wake up and loosen up!

Tomorrow will tell the tale... today is "last-chance workout" after small group tonight... must... avoid.... snacking...

Other updates...

So now that the Maui Chronicles are over, I guess I get to move into "real" life again!

Here's a mish-mash...

We have hopefully now come out of the other end of a bad biting phase with Miss Meaghan, who thought it would be fun to use Momma's breast as a teething toy.  This has, by far, been the most traumatic, stressful, and sad thing I've ever gone through while nursing my babies.  Joshua bit for a week when he was 8 months old.  Dustin lasted about 3 weeks.  We were going on 3 months with Meaghan, with no end in sight.  She has, however, thankfully decreased her biting to almost "non-existent".  I didn't supplement with a bottle, I fed her less often (just to see if she'd become desperate, but she didn't - she would still bite!!)  Towards the end, we were getting 20-30 bites a day, easily... and now, a week or so later, we are down to mayyyyybe one little nippy clamp per day.  Not so bad!!  I'm thankful for friends who care, who allow me to reach out in my distress and offer support, encouragement, and advice.  So, thank you.

Meaghan pulls to stand now.  I found her on her feet in her crib the other day.  Little stinker was so proud of herself!!  Time to put the crib rail up all the time now...

Meaghan finally learned to crawl on Sunday!!  She's been army-crawling for a while now, but finally decided to use the knees that God gave her for higher pursuits (her wiggly little bum is SOOOO cute!)... and last night she crawled right to the edge of the stairs and decided that she'd like to crawl down them.  It was only two (three?) stairs, down to the back entrance, and she went slow-motion so actually got "stuck" on the first stair.  :)  Kinda cute, but poor honey... I have NO idea how we're going to put baby gates up in this house.  Going to require some extra money and construction... anyone notice how they don't build new houses to accommodate baby gates?

We're gearing up for the spring & summer with our church!  Day camp registrations, preschool registration for Dustin, volunteering for day camps... I'm excited!  On second thought, I'm not sure if I'll volunteer or not; tagging Meaghan long makes 7 hours a really, really, really long day.  *sigh*  I want to help, but....

Graeme is back to work - working for his old business partner, part time.  Kind of a no-brainer cushy job... to tide him through, allow his brain to relax, and give him some space (and us some $$!) while he does some education and upgrading for certain pharmacy specialties and waits for such a position to open up.

Meaghan likes paperwork.  Specifically, she loves the green bin full of paper under my desk, where she often sits and plays while I work.  Or blog.  Or facebook.  :)  Gotta teach her early about the value of important documents, no?

I have the boys registered for their next rounds of swimming lessons in June, as well as starting them in gymnastics in a couple of weeks.  Dustin in particular is so nuts, and I fear for his safety.  Hopefully learning how his body works and being trained by someone doing something creative with his body (and in a SAFE manner) will help him to play a bit safer and not *try* to constantly land on his head.  Somehow, Momma telling him that he will break his neck is not deterring him.

I am going to be switching up worship teams for the next couple of months; one of the teams in our church needs a fill-in leader as their leader has two sons getting married this summer and she needs a break.  No kidding, hey?  Leading is not really something I'm in a "life-phase" for long-term... we just have overhauled our lives in a major way, and to just toss something else in to fill in the spaces is not going to help us.  To *be* on a team is not a huge deal; someone else does the admin, picks the songs, orchestrates the rehearsals, and I just get to show up and be part of it.  So anyway, I've agreed to fill in for two months, but not long-term.  I don't think they're looking for anyone long-term, but it could be a possibility.  I love, love, love leading worship, but if I took on leading a team long-term, it would be a case of "the right thing at the wrong time".

Joshua had Wee College grad last night - year two.  Why, oh WHY do the organizers think that it's a good idea to *start* these events at 7 p.m. and run them till 9:00 (including a luncheon filled with sugar-high-inducing goodies), when many 4-6 year olds actually go to bed at, umm, 7:30?  What a recipe for exhausted children.  Meaghan was d-o-n-e by the time we got home.  Joshua was yawning on stage during his songs, and he wasn't the only glassy-eyed kid up there.  Dustin was melting into heaps all over the place, but the promise of a snack after the 1 hour and 15 minute program kept his whining at bay...

Anyway...

...the house is a mess.
...Graeme & Dustin have a playdate today with Tim & Hudson.
...Graeme has a new hobby, courtesy of Tim - flying model airplanes!
...I need to bake bread today.
...I need to work out again today.
...I hope the sun shines today so maybe I can go OUTSIDE for a run again!

Oh hey... as a tidbit... I ran 9.25 km the other evening.  And, I loved it. It was slow, but I did it.  I want to up that to 10K as soon as possible (I just ran out of time - we had company coming and I had 7 minutes to shower!) and then improve my time.  My inspiration?  You'll never guess...

Time to start my day.  Back to real life!  (I was online early to try and secure swimming spots for my boys.  The county opens up swimming registration online at a certain time of day, and if you're not *right there*, you can't get onto the site as they only allow a certain number of users at a time.  I wasn't fortunate enough to get on right away, so I sat and waited, and tried again, and waited some more... but was still fortunate enough to secure the spots I wanted for them!)

Have a blessed day.  I am praying for you!

Weight loss thought

Meaghan is somewhere in the 19-20 lb range.

Sometimes, not using a carrier, I carry her around for more than 10 or 15 minutes, and I think, "Man, I'm getting a little tired!!"

And to think... I've already lost almost 1 1/2 "Meaghans" off my body... how much was that exhausting me, day in and day out?

BLAH update again. :)

Are you getting sick of these yet?  I gave you a couple weeks off... ha ha!

This week, we had a birthday party for a little nephew.  Cute as a button, he is, but the processed sugar (cake) and diet soda popped me up 3 lbs overnight, pretty much.  We've got a "diet pop" thread going on the other blog, and we've been talking about how diet pop can really make us retain fluid.  Yup, sure did!!  Thankfully those 3 lbs went away, along with two more.  I've lost 28 lbs since October!!

I hit a couple of personal firsts this week, the biggest one being last night.... the weather has been nice enough and I decided to go out for a run.  And run I did - I did 9.25 km, pretty much straight, save for 4 short 30-second walking breaks.  I have never run that much in one stint, ever, not even when I ran provincials cross-country in high school.  I feel pretty good about that.  My pace is still slow (it took me a little under an hour, but still, slow enough that I can't call myself a "runner" just yet), but the endurance is coming, and then the increased pace will, too.  I am thrilled!!

I did some videos this week, had some burn-out elliptical sessions, and went for two or three runs, and with the exception of two days, ate really really well.  I felt like it was about an 85% effort week overall... those two days could've been better, but hey, I'll take the two pounds and be thrilled!!!

In 4 more lbs, I'll be at my pre-Dustin weight.  And in 3 lbs, I'll be able to open a bin of clothes that I've been saving for when I hit a certain weight.  I didn't think I'd be able to open that box for a very long time yet.  Many of them are clothes I bought in the last couple of years that were tight but aren't outdated yet, at least not according to me!  :)  So, I'm hoping to open that bin in 2 weeks' time.  In 11 lbs, I'll be at my pre-Joshua weight.  I never thought I'd get this close - I hope I can make my pre-Joshua weight by the time this newest competition is over - if I can go one pound under that, that would be 40 lbs since October!! That would mean 2 lbs per week for the next 6 weeks... it's getting harder to take off those pounds, but I think with some extra perseverance, I can do it!

I'm excited!!!

Maui Chronicles - Day Nine

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Slow drivers, free stuff, and birds that mock me

This morning was my last walk on the beach.  I finally get Graeme to walk with me to the very end of the beach; usually when we are out walking together, we've only gone so far as it's been dark and we've needed to get Meggie back to nap.  But this day, it was young in the day, and we needed to get some air.

I'd done a bunch of packing so far, so when we got back from our walk, we only had to put Meaghan down for her nap and finish up the last details. We each grabbed a shower (not together... good grief! this is a PUBLIC blog! Did you REALLY think that?) and then Graeme started hauling stuff down to the jeep.  We had requested a late checkout to accommodate Meaghan's napping, however, the incessant scraping of chairs *right* above where she was sleeping was enough to drive me batty!  As for Meaghan, the nap was not a success; she only got about 45 minutes.  This worried me, as I knew we would be out the rest of the day, and that napping was not a certainty for her later on... and that she would be a mess if the nap didn't happen later.

So we checked out, and inquired about the private units available for rent.  We were told that there was no printout, but that we'd have to go into the lower level (parkade level) of each tower (there were 2) and copy down the info we wanted.  

Now, we'd already checked out, meaning we had no way to get back into the building.  So we did what anyone would do; we waited for someone to either go in or come out of the building and we just snuck in after them.  :)  We found massive lists... no way we could copy down the info!  So we brought out our camera and took pictures of the lists.  We'll be doing some phoning!

We drove to Lahaina one more time, where the weather was HOT and beautiful!  

We walked around a bit, bought two more bags of chocolate-toffee covered macadamia nuts, and a little bracelet & necklace for me.  We found a nice little 50's diner called Cool Cat Cafe.  

Meaghan reading the drinks menu:

Since she was underage, she chose instead to eat the menu.

Chillin' with my Daddy, waitin' for our food...

"Oh, how I adore my daddy..."

We ordered Frings (half a basket of fries with half a basket of onion rings), and we both ordered a chicken club sandwich called a Chubby Checker.  The thing was huge, and oh so good!!  

Graeme scarfing down the last piece of Maui Gold Pineapple he would eat on the island...

Oh, and we got free root beer floats.  It's been years since I've had a root beer float.  But some guy on the street gave us coupons for free ones.  So, who am I to pass up a free dessert?  HA!

We then walked around a bit more - we still had about 6 hours to kill before we even had to be at the airport - and found the big banyon tree of Lahaina.  These things are massive - it's basically all one tree, with tendrils that come down and root themselves.  It's almost freakish.  But beautiful.  After taking some pictures, I nursed Meaghan under the banyon tree.  So nice!!

We still had about 5 hours to kill, but Meaghan was tired and we were hot, and my heat rash was starting to vehemently protest.  So we hopped in the van and explored the island for an hour or so, while Meaghan (thankfully!) napped.  The roads were narrow and winding.  

And busy.

And coming towards us, we saw a caravan... we could only see a few vehicles, but soon we realized it would be much much longer than that.  You see, the guy in the 'lead' vehicle was only clicking along at about 20 miles an hour.

On a 45 mph road.  The signs also post a "minimum" speed.  This guy was nowhere close to the posted minimum 35 mph.

So I started counting vehicles.  By the time I hit 50 cars, I was giggling.  Number 73 was a fire truck.  By the time we hit the end, number (ready?) 122, I was in hysterics.  Can you imagine how frustrating this must've been for all those people??  Oh man...  and more vehicles were quickly approaching the slow-moving caravan.

We finally ended up back in Kahului, where we flew into.  We were going to walk around a bit, but it had turned windy and rainy a bit, so we kept indoors as much as possible.  It was very clear that Kahului was not a tourist town.  Lots of industrial, lots of regular stores.  Very dirty.  Not well manicured.

But there we were.

We ended up in a new organic food grocery store that had just opened in the mall there.  We were hungry but didn't want greasy food-court food, so Graeme ordered a brie cheese turkey sandwich, and I went to the salad bar and built my own salad, where you pay "per pound".  It was fantastic... mixed spring greens, tomatoes, a bit of cheese, mushrooms, peas, and a few other things... and my body was pleased.

After we ate, we walked a bit more... but it started raining again.  We found a pet store, and just inside the door was a talking parrot.  

I said “hello” it answered… I said “hi”, it answered… then it said Aloha… and then it SCREAMED at me!!... I jumped, then the evil thing laughed at me.  Meaghan thought it was riot, and thoroughly loved the pet store!!  Birdies, fish, even the evil parrot.  Highlight of her night, I suppose!

Back to the parking lot... where it was cool enough for us to change into our "flying home" clothes - yes, we changed in the front seat of the jeep in the middle of the parking lot, but it was dark!  We repacked our last-minute items - stuff strewn all over the parking lot - but we got it done and packed just the way I wanted it to be.

Off to the airport... where day 9 will meld into a very long day 10, I'm sure.  Here's hoping it's an OK flight!

Maui Chronicles - Day Eight

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Whales & footprints

Today - finally - Graeme gets to go on his whale-watching tour.  He left pretty early - he had to be at the dock around 9:15 or so.  The boat would leave at 9:45, and the tour was 2 hours long.  So, it was just me and the Megster for 2 hours.

Graeme had a great time playing with our camera and getting some great whale shots!!

The boat was very tippy, though... hindsight is always 20/20, and I would've been verrrry sick on that thing.  I'd really wanted to go on the whale watch, too, but we decided that it would be too windy and even hot (the sun had started to shine again) for Meaghan to be on the boat with us for a 2-hour trip.  So I stayed behind.  God is good to have given us those "reasons" not to go, because otherwise I would've gone and been green and pukey the entire time!

I, unfortunately, still was being quite bothered by the heat rash.  I decided to brave the elements - it didn't look too windy - and just suck it up and go to the beach with Meaghan.

We got there...

I laid the towel down...

...stuck the umbrella in the sand....

...took out a couple toys for Meaghan...

...and a great gust of wind blew up and took the umbrella away.  I left Meaghan sitting there, stunned, while I ran after the wayward umbrella (which almost ended up in the ocean!).  Me... swimsuit... running... not pretty.

So I put the umbrella away and just decided that we wouldn't stay out too long.  Then the wind kept whipping up and literally sandblasting us.  I couldn't shelter M enough with my body - besides the fact that I was getting beaten up, too!

Long story short is that it took longer to get us ready to go out there than the time we actually spent outside.

Disheartened, we went back inside.  Meaghan was getting grumpy from being cooped up in a home that was not hers.  I was getting resentful of the weather and the major discomfort from the rash.  No amount of hydrocortisone application, cool showering, or aloe would soothe it.

Graeme came back, and we looked at some of his pictures.  

After the sun started to lower in the sky a bit, we went out for a beach walk.  I desperately wanted to get some "footprints in the sand" pictures.  So, we played in the sand for about half an hour.  This was probably where my day started turning around.  It was so therapeutic just to play.  

Walk.  

Press Meggie's footprints into the sand.  

And enjoy some fresh air.

After we came back, we actually ordered supper for pick-up from this place down the beach.  Graeme brought me a chicken wrap with coleslaw, and he had a sandwich of some sort.  So healthy, so yummy.  Satisfied.

We had these "thank you for not opening" cards from Haagen Dazs the other night, but we figured, there's no WAY we're going back there this holiday!  Our first card gave us a free scoop on an ice cream cone... really?  Hmph.  Whoop.  A whole dollar.  We got us each a cone.  So we opened the new cards, expecting to find something lame-o.

Two.  Free.  Dazzlers.

A dazzler is basically layers of ice cream, oreo cookies, and I think some extra chocolate.  You can look it up if you want, but we could NOT believe we'd just opened TWO cards that each would give us a free dazzler.  Since we'd opened them, we were fairly certain they'd be invalid.

I convinced Graeme to go ask.  These things are worth about $7 or $8 each.

He came home with two.  free.  dazzlers.  They didn't even question the fact that the cards were opened. Graeme is an honest guy, and wouldn't have pushed it.  He was just as shocked as I was!!

I don't even want to think about how many calories... I didn't indulge much on this trip, but this was one time I threw all caution to the wind.  

Soooooo good.

And did I mention they were free?

Score!

Time to start thinking about packing up our stuff.  The problem was, we had about 10 bags of chocolate-toffee covered macadamia nuts, and 7 packages of coffee, plus souvenirs for the kids and other family.. how was I going to fit everything in the suitcases when we'd come over with them stuffed full?  I started rolling clothes instead of folding them, and that made some room.  Whew!  We tossed out a couple of plastic containers that we no longer needed.  We had used almost all of our diapers, but were not going to have enough to make it home, so unfortunately the "diaper space", which we'd figured would be vacant, was now refilled with another almost full package of diapers that we had to buy in Maui.

Somehow, it all fit.  And the suitcases had that little zipper that allows you to expand them.

Mmmmm... Mauna Loa chocolate-toffee-covered mac nuts....

Maui Chronicles - Day Seven

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

"No more sun for you!!"

As per our usual routine in the morning as of late, we were woken by some sweet mewlings of a Meggie-monster shortly before 7 a.m.  I immediately noticed that the wind had lessened significantly, and the waves were calmer.  Was a beach-front walk on my agenda for the day?

When Meaghan finally went for her morning nap, I got out for a nice long walk on the beach.  The waves were still coming too high to do a proper jog, but I did get in 3 miles (I brought my Garmin so I would know where I was at distance-wise).  It was a fantastic pedicure!!  My feet have never been so soft… they like the sand…

Graeme had plans to go out on a whale-watching trip this afternoon.  He’d booked & paid for it by phone, and so he left about half an hour before the trip just to give himself enough time to find the place and get parked and down to the wharf.  There weren’t any signs, but the lady gave him driving directions over the phone.  Turns out that “turn right by the big tree” really meant “no, not THAT tree, the OTHER one!”  Long story short is that Graeme missed the boat, and so he ended up having to reschedule for tomorrow morning.

Here’s the thing… once Meaghan woke from her nap, I took her out for a walk.  A nice, long, stroller-walk out to the end of the beach and beyond on the sidewalks above the beach.  I assumed Graeme was gone, so we took our time… we stopped at a big public beach/park place with picnic tables and palm trees.  I gave Meaghan a snack, and then did what I’ve always wanted to do with her here:  nurse her under a palm tree.  It was just gloriously relaxing… seeing the waves crash, watching people talk about turtles that they could see, and enjoying the gentler breeze.  Once we were done, I popped her back in the stroller and we headed back for some frozen yogurt.  Low-fat, of course!  It was the *perfect* day with her.  She was SO good!

Graeme had the camera with him on the whale watching tour, so unfortunately I couldn't get any good ones of Meaghan on our walk today.  

When I got back to the condo, I noticed that housekeeping had been there, but also that some things were out of place.  There was a shirt on the bed.  That’s funny, I thought that’s the shirt that Graeme wore to the whale-watching.  His sandals were gone, so I must’ve been imagining things earlier.  Then I noticed the camera was there… What?  Did he forget to take the camera, of all things?  Then finally the walkie-talkie on the table caught my eye.  Now, I KNEW I had put those away.

I grabbed it, and it was on (I also KNEW I had turned it off).  It became immediately obvious that Graeme was back, so I radio’d him and got the sad frustrating story.  He had been laying by the pool deck for the last hour or so waiting for me to come back.  Poor guy!!  (So now we not only had no pictures of Meaghan on our walk, we also had zero pictures of whale-watching.  So, you get sunset pictures today.  :)

Meaghan napped again, we Skyped with the boys, and then I sent Graeme out for some erranding.  I have learned that the nice little rash I have is not an allergy to anything except heat.  A dumb heat rash!!  Are you kidding me? 

I looked up “heat rash” online, and it gave me a couple of alternate names, one of which is “prickly heat”.  Another name looks & sounds like “malaria”, but that’s not it.  Anyway, it turns out this could be worse… it usually happens in babies but can also happen with adults.  And…it could be in places that you would never want a rash to be… like under the breasts, or between other folds of skin… thankfully, mine is confined mostly to my arms, chest, and neck, and a bit on my legs.  Regardless, it has become incredibly itchy and ugly.  I look like I have a really nasty case of chicken pox!!  The treatment?  Stay out of the heat and sun.  I’m in Hawaii, for cryin’ out loud… stay out of the SUN? And HEAT?

*sigh*

So I sent Graeme on an errand.  He went to pick up some hydrocortisone cream for me, as well as some aloe.  The aloe isn’t helping me a whole lot, but it’s helping his own sunburned shins!!  Poor guy…  I’d rather have a sunburn than this heat rash, though.  It’s miserable.

We made supper “in” tonight using some groceries we’d bought the other day.  It sure was a nice change from eating in a restaurant!  We ate some pretty healthy-portioned veggies… some rice & roast… it was good.  Mmm.  We tried taking Meaghan out for a walk afterwards, but it was incredibly windy and surprisingly cold.  We came home instead and put her to bed.

Pretty lazy day overall… and I wasn’t feeling well, so I crashed soon after Meaghan did.  Hopefully this rash will subside (or at least not be so irritated!) and I can enjoy some beach time tomorrow.