fatigue/mystery illness update

I haven't posted in a year. I realize in reviewing my blog that it's actually quite helpful in many ways to have a record of stuff I've done to address the chronic-fatigue-like illness I've struggled with for the past 5 years. So I thought I'd post again to try and get the ball rolling and get back in the habit.

But where do you start after a year of not blogging?

Well, for starters, I have a bit of time to blog this morning, uncharacteristically. I'm with Loren up at Zermatt Resort in Midway for our 25th anniversary. We wanted a little R&R after hosting a pianist for the Gina Bachauer competition for the last two weeks (SO fun but also SO busy!).  We also really wanted to celebrate 25 years - that's a major accomplishment! Loren likes to sleep in, and I'm a morning person, so I thought I'd blog and exercise before he wakes up. I actually have the luxury of some time to myself this morning, and I'm enjoying that.

A few weeks ago I decided to give the medical professionals another shot at figuring out the fatigue. I have also been having some heart palpitations (for me, this meant an odd, intense heartbeat mostly noticed while lying down before sleeping). These were annoying and I doubted they were serious but wanted them checked out. After noticing them and talking with my friend Sarah (who happens to be an MD), she mentioned that the anti-depressant I have been taking (escitalopram, 20mg) could cause a heart condition called Long QT syndrome. Hmmm. I decided to pare down to 10mg escitalopram and see if that made me feel better. A month later it seemed maybe I had fewer palpitations, and I scheduled a doctor appointment to investigate as well as inquire again about my fatigue issues.

Tests ensued.

Heart - had an EKG and ended up wearing a Holter monitor for 48 hr to get it checked. I have PVCs - premature ventricular contractions - which are not usually serious, just annoying. Cardiologist gave me a clean bill of health. Good news.

Blood - Got CBC and metabolic panel as well has a blood smear (to rule out heel strike hemolysis). That showed my usual slight anemia (I've been slightly anemic with hemoglobin in the 12s and hematocrit 36-38 for as long as I can remember, which is obviously not great for a racewalker but is unlikely to explain the new onset of fatigue, as I have had this a long time) but also a slightly lowered white count with neutropenia. This probably doesn't mean much, but it did earn me a hematology referral. Because my iron (ferritin), B12, and folate are normal (yay for taking iron and B12!) it's weird that my hemoglobin is a bit low (for years it was low probably because my iron was low, but now it's unexplained). Perhaps my bone marrow isn't producing quite enough cells? Or they are getting destroyed by an inflammatory process? So. Something to investigate. I see hematology on July 27. I asked my doc if she was sure she was going to send me there, because my hemoglobin is not THAT low (12.3, and normal is 13 or more). I mean, the hematologist is going to roll his/her eyes that I'm walking in the door for help. She told me to advocate for myself, because I'm an athlete (or a wannabe athlete), and if LeBron James had a hemoglobin of 12.3 you bet the hematologists would take notice. Hmmm. Point taken.

Hormones - yeah, I'm old enough to be menopausal and that can contribute to fatigue, so got things checked. My LH and FSH are low enough that I'm not menopausal. Rules that out. While we're on the endocrine system, I got my TSH checked (thyroid) and it was normal. Rules that out too.

My doctor also gave me a referral to her sports medicine colleague to see if he had any ideas. He did.

We brainstormed and came up with a few things:

1) Lyme disease? Another blood test via Western blot - negative. Good. I'd hate to have that, and though I thought it unlikely (it's not common in Utah, though I've traveled some so that's always a possibility), I am glad to have that ruled out.

2) He agreed the hematology referral was worth a shot.

3) He wonders if my anti-depressant might possibly be the cause of all of this. Well, that is a novel thought. The timing is quite suspect if it took a while for it to begin to impact my training, now that I look at things. I have always had anxiety and am prone to mild depression but just gutted it out for years. Finally at the end of 2010 I decided to try medication, mostly because I felt my anxiety was negatively impacting my children. The medication (citalopram, 10mg) was great. I felt significantly better and things were much calmer around our house, and also my seasonal depression was a lot better, which improved my quality of life. In early 2011 I stopped it for a bit due to pregnancy (miscarried, sadly, even though unplanned) and restarted in late spring just a bit before World Masters. 2011 and early 2012 were my best years racewalking, as my iron was high and the fatigue hadn't started. If the antidepressant took a while to start to cause fatigue this is all possible. Late in 2012 everything nosedived - I had a poor 40k performance that fall (poor in that I was trained for 4:08ish and did 4:22 and felt awful) followed by an injury and a subpar 30k (3:15) due to not being able to train. Then in spring 2013 the crippling fatigue and muscle pain began. When I cut back on exercise, I felt better, and the muscle pain diminished over 18 months or so and hasn't returned, but if I exercise too much now I get punished. I wish I had the timeline better but...I don't...so...continuing, sometime in 2013 (?) I upped the citalopram dose to 20mg because of ongoing depression about racewalking & the fatigue. It did seem to help my depression. In 2014? early 2015? I switched from citalopram 20 mg to escitalopram 10 mg - similar drug, just purer preparation (enantiomer), and same dose. The fatigue didn't change much at all and my training was about the same. Kinda crappy. But I was happier about it at least :)! Last year, I had a lot of anxiety in the late spring and early summer, and my doc recommended upping the escitalopram to 20mg. That helped a lot. BUT...I started trying to train harder, hoping to go to Spain for World Masters, and the training worked to a point but then after that was just completely ineffective. It's the weirdest thing. Nothing my coach and I have tried has worked at all. I train and get slower. It's like hitting a wall. You could argue this is age-related, but it's just too sudden, too severe, and the timing seems quite coincidental. Now, it's possible it's not the anti-depressant. I've gotten all excited about stuff before in the past 5 years - for example, going gluten-free in 2014 (didn't help; negative test for Celiac's), trying no added refined sugar, upping protein intake, etc. So I'm trying not to get all excited about this. It's one more thing to try, and I'm hopeful, but not hanging everything on it.

Going off the escitalopram has been, well, interesting. Took my last dose 8 days ago, on Sunday night (saw sports medicine doc Monday morning). All week I've been very tired, which can only partially be explained by hosting a pianist, I think. In addition I've felt very dizzy, and when I turn my head it takes the world a while to follow. I've had "brain zaps" - hard to explain but unpleasant. Finally, on Friday afternoon I got some nausea and drew the line at that, so I took half a tablet of escitalopram (5mg). Friday night I felt much better. By Saturday night I was dragging again and I'm still feeling iffy, but I think I might be past the worst of this. I haven't had any more nausea, though food has been oddly unappealing at times (and I'm a food addict so this is saying something!).

It's going to be interesting to see if this helps. I expect the timeline to be pretty delayed, so that's a bit of a conundrum, as I also don't enjoy anxiety and depression. Usually the depression isn't bad in summer so that's good. My sports med doc says there are other anti-depressants I can try, but I'm wondering if that's a good idea? I have some time to think about it as he wants me to do a 2 month trial without anything and keep a diary (hey, this blog works! Let's do it!).

So, back to today - exercise: might racewalk and see how it feels. Might do elliptical. No pressure. Just something to keep active and stay healthy. In reviewing my blog, it's sad that it's come to that, but on the other hand, at least I can still do something and for that I'm grateful.

And I'm thrilled to celebrate being married for 25 years to Loren. He's a rock in many ways - his calm to my storm has been a great help. He's a terrific father to our kids, and a steady partner. We've been through a lot together. Here's to 25 more!

yoga; elliptical

Cross-training today!

I know I need to do some strength training, so today was my second day of the "Yoga For Runners" DVD. It has some tough strength moves (lizard pose is really challenging; plus lunges, planks, warrior pose, etc. - with the instructor emphasizing good form and using your various hip muscles a LOT; lots of great stretching too - pigeon, etc.). Terrific. I felt worked again when I finished it, but still made myself go to the gym and do the elliptical for 45 min for some good cardio. Tomorrow: more racewalking, I hope! My hamstring was a little tender after the yoga, just like last time, but after the elliptical workout it felt totally fine. So all is well there. It was annoyed with me a bit this morning for sitting at the piano in church, but it was less bothersome than a few weeks ago, so that's progress.

When I got home from the gym, I made a terrific dinner (if I do say so myself!) for hubby, as my parents have the kids tonight. Steak (filet for me, NY for him) with mushrooms, shrimp cocktail, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce (I went light on that - watching my points!), and best of all, mini coconut cream pies for dessert. Mmmmmm! Good, saved lots of $, and peaceful and quiet in our new home; no restaurant crowds for the introverts :).

elliptical

I appreciated yesterday's rest day a lot, as my cold had me feeling a bit weak and definitely not up to exercising much. Loren and I enjoyed a good lunch together in Kimball Junction followed by a movie in the theater (the Bourne Legacy - quite good, actually!). We both enjoy a good thriller, whether movie or book. Afterward, we returned to our hotel for some relaxation (I read a bit and was on the internet for a while, and Loren napped) followed by watching some TV on DVD (Downton Abbey, Big Love) and then out to dinner at the Grub Steak in Park City. Dinner was, well, not very good. Don't go there! The service was mediocre, and the food matched it.

***

Today was a cross-training day. I woke still feeling sick, but after 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep I was feeling a bit better than yesterday. I got on the pretty crappy elliptical in the hotel fitness room (love this hotel, actually, but most hotels seem to have lousy fitness rooms for some reason) and did 45 minutes. The time passed pretty quickly despite the equipment issues, because I am reading an outstanding book on marriage - best I've ever read - and it gave me lots of things to chew on (the book is Tim Keller's "The Meaning of Marriage" and it's a 5-star book for sure).

OK, time to check out of our hotel and go enjoy some lunch together, no kids :). We needed this time and it's fantastic!

different personas

I am inspired by this post. She writes it because she feels she uses her "4 personas" to hide behind; that's not really my personality (I don't think it is anyway), but I do feel that I have such divergent interests that I'm not sure how they all fit together into one person. I wish my interests blended a bit better. The transitions are not so smooth; I'm not sure if that matters, but it's weird.

I like Amy Grant's song "Hats" and I think that's what it's like - trying on so many different hats, and juggling them rapidly. It's not easy.

1. Molecular biologist - I love my work and I do get really absorbed in it. It's a time for me to exercise my brain, feel skilled at something, and have time with other adults who are doing the same. I like the challenges and revel in learning new things. I like making some money for the family, and I like contributing to general scientific knowledge. I like getting paid to work with expensive scientific equipment (i.e. confocal microscopes, etc.).

2. Mommy of preschoolers - this is the area I am weakest in. I'm not patient. I don't allow myself to relax enough with my kids. I get too busy and then don't give my kids enough time or energy. It's not that I am a bad mom, but I'm not sure I'm a good one.

2.5 Wife - I do a lot of stuff for my husband but our time together is stretched thin because of kids/work/obligations. I need to improve here. We do get a decent amount of dates, which helps, but the everyday stuff, the 5 minutes here and there, could be vastly improved upon.

3. Competitive racewalker - this is the one thing I really do just for ME. Yes, my work is for me, but it is also for the family (the money aspect) and for the boss. Racewalking is a space unto myself, and it's wonderful.

4. Coach - I love coaching TNT people. It's meaningful to see their progress and their joy at completing their event. I love that I am doing it for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, because then I feel I am doing something to fight the disease that my dad has.

5. Piano teacher/musician - this area of my life has gotten a bit squished by the other stuff lately. I do still have 4 students and enjoy teaching them, but I don't get to play much myself. I do play some for church, but I miss serious chamber music and/or wind ensembles. Ah well, there is a time for everything, and right now is not the time for the musician stuff I guess.

My goal for the next few months? I'm going to be racewalking and training less while my foot heals. I want to focus on being a better mommy & wife. So I'm going to do Play-doh with my son for a bit right now :).

17 snowy miles

Saturday was our TNT workout (photo is of a few team members at the 1st water stop). Most of the team was doing 12 or 10 miles, but one of our Nashville Country Music Marathon people needed to do 20. It was snowing when we got to the park to start out; it wasn't sticking (well, mostly not - some slushy sidewalks) but it was definitely snowing pretty good and wasn't terribly pleasant out. It was about 30 degrees and, OK, I admit it, I AM SICK OF WINTER ALREADY. Spring in SLC is pretty random - we get snowstorms and then warm weather in alternating bursts. The warm weather part is nice - it was 58 today and supposed to be even nicer tomorrow.

Anyway, I did the 12 with the team (which ended up being about 13 for me, with the back and forth between groups), and then went out for the last 8 with our team captain who is going to Nashville. She was hurting, though (calf muscle issues), and could only do 4 more, which made about 17 for me. I was sorry she had to quit but I was cold, so it wasn't too terrible ;).

I did the 17 at about a 12 minute pace, on average, including the miles w/the runners and the walkers. My right hip was still bugging me quite a lot, and the muscle (piriformis, most likely) was very cranky when we finished. I stretched a lot and downed some very wonderful hot chocolate, and went home. Later, my hip felt fine.

***

In fact, later that night, Loren and I went on a date :) and enjoyed a meal at the Dodo (great desserts!!!), a walk around Sugar House Park (very leisurely - my hip was totally OK w/it), some bookstore browsing, and a trip to Blockbuster to rent a Wii game w/a gift card Loren had. It was a wonderful 5 hours w/o the kids :)!

***

Today I enjoyed a 3.75 mile jaunt around Sugar House park in 38 and change (pretty speedy, actually). I felt fast, and my hip was fine - maybe just a twinge here and there. Go figure!?! 21.5 miles last weekend, 17 yesterday, and I felt fine. Hmmm - I must be getting used to this. Good thing, since I'll most likely do a lot of miles while coaching the marathon in just 2 weeks.

I haven't been getting enough sleep - so I think I'm off to bed now. Have my weight training class in the morning, and I want to be able to get up for it!!!

A few photos from Valentine's Day

Here are a few photos from the dinner Loren and I enjoyed together, at home, in the peace and quiet while the kids were at pajama night.

Saturday with the team

Today was a busy day for me with Team in Training. I was coaching the spring and summer teams - all alone (well, I did have a lot of help from Diane, who is injured but still helped anyway). Yikes! About 10-15 summer team members showed up, and 6 spring team members, despite 2 inches of snow at the start of the workout, and continuing snow throughout the workout. Yup, it snowed on us ALL morning long.

The summer team was great on their first workout - everyone easily completed the miles, and there are a couple pretty fast runners on the team. I was able to keep up w/them racewalking, but only for a short time (which was all I needed to do this morning, since I had to touch base w/the whole team in only 3 miles' worth of time). I will obviously need to do some running with them, but I think it can wait a couple weeks until my IT band is a little better, so that's good news. Anyway, I really like the new team members, and I'm excited about working with them. It's so encouraging to see so many who want to raise $ for LLS to fight leukemia & lymphoma. I just feel so good out there helping them, because I feel like I am doing something for my dad, even if it is not directly benefiting him at the moment - I feel like I am fighting back against the disease that will take his life unless a cure is found.

After I finished w/the summer team, Diane (one of the sweetest people I know - she has been a walk coach for TNT for 10 years now, and was out there today despite her broken patella - she was driving, not walking) drove me to find where the team members were. We found Starr, who was hurting from a knee injury (might be IT band, poor thing) and picked her up; she'd done about 8 miles and had to stop. She told us that Rachel, who she was running with, was lonely and needed some encouragement to finish her 16 miles. So Diane drove me and Starr to find Rachel, and I racewalked alongside Rachel for about 8-9 miles. It was snowing hard, but not terribly cold. The slush did make our feet quite wet, but my feet stayed warm because of the physical activity. I was thankful for my waterproof pants & jacket, and for the baseball cap that kept the driving snow out of my eyes.

When Rachel turned to go to Liberty Park for the final stretch of her run, I found Kale & Cassandra and walked around SugarHouse Park with them (my 2nd time around!). We had a great time walking and talking despite the really crappy weather. It was snowing sideways for a great part of the walk around SH Park, and we were saying how crazy we all were to be out there. But Kale and Cassandra are SO awesome, and they will complete the marathon for sure. Anyone who does 14 miles in the driving snow can do 26 in better weather. They are doing the Country Music Marathon in Nashville on April 25th, and it might rain, but I am relatively sure it will not snow there :).

I did have some GI trouble for the last few miles, but it wasn't too bad (though once I got home I had a lot of problems for several hours... I realized after the fact that I ate a lot of stupid things yesterday and have to be more careful before my long walks!!!). When we got back to Liberty Park, my Garmin said 13.24 miles, and I was pleased. But... turns out that when I got home and downloaded the route, that I had actually had it paused for about 1.72 miles or so. Oops! I paused it to take off my Yaktrax (which were rubbing my feet weird and bunching up my left shoe - strange because have never had trouble w/them before) and then forgot to restart until the next water stop. So, I actually did 14.96 miles or thereabouts, and all with NO IT band pain! Yay! Of course, with the snow, I was pretty slow, but who cares? I am just very happy to be well on my way to recovery.

***

Tonight we have a babysitter (kids went to PJ night at the day care) and we are home alone - I made dinner for Loren: filet mignon with red wine shallot sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and steamed asparagus. Chocolate mousse cake forthcoming shortly for dessert, followed by a hot bath in the jetted tub before we have to pick them up. And yes, we are relaxing at the table now - he's reading me interesting factoids from a couple books he got from the library, and he's listening to me blab on about racewalking and blogging :). Happy Valentine's Day! It's great to have a little time at home with just the 2 of us.

Beethoven

Last night we went to the Utah Symphony for an all-Beethoven concert. Garrick Ohlsson performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto #4, and the orchestra and chorus performed the Ninth Symphony. Briefly, I was quite impressed with Mr. Ohlsson's playing - definitely a cut above! It was one of the few times I actually agreed with the Utah crowd's standing ovation (they give standing ovations to EVERYONE, which defeats the purpose, in my opinion). I loved the intense & focused moments of communication between soloist and conductor; the intimacy of consummate musicians in tune with each other is something I would never tire of watching. Actually, truth be told, the only thing that is better is performing and feeling that connection myself. I miss it, but one can only fit so many things in a day, and caring for my children, racewalking, and blogging are taking up all my time :).


The amazing Dale Chihuly sculpture in the Abravanel Hall lobby. Other photos: our friends David & Jana, and also Loren with me.



Date nights are wonderful!

Our Saturday

So, after a relatively crummy week (yeah, I know, I didn't post all week... trust me, it wasn't worth posting about), we had a fabulous Saturday. Took the kids sledding, and then the day care had a Kids' Day from 10:30am to 3:30pm. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Finn's on 11th East, and I had some time to work on the family videos, which I was way behind on (now I'm only slightly behind!). It was great to just have a bit of time to ourselves. Loren helped me make some delicious turkey soup, and after my 4 pm piano student we enjoyed eating it. Now I'm doing a bit more video editing, though I'm getting tired quickly and will hit the sack soon I hope.

Date night

Tonight we went to the Gateway and tried Z'Tejas, a Tex-Mex place. We thought it was good, but not remarkable. We enjoyed our dinner, though, and then walked around and shopped. We got some fun kitchen stuff at Sur La Table, browsed The Body Shop and Bath and Body Works, checked out Christopher & Banks (tried on 2 pr pants but no dice), bought a cool slick-bottomed sled at Dick's Sporting Goods, and got some printer ink and some stationary for our Christmas letter at Office Depot. It was great to walk around and shop w/o the kids, and just hang out together. Babysitters are a wonderful thing!

better

Today was much better, thankfully.

Walking - took a rest day. I needed it.

Work - started a new experiment, hoping that the latest idea will bear fruit. Upbeat about the possibilities.

Kids - much happier today. They liked the taco soup I made for dinner. Especially the chips :)! Calvin did well on the potty - yeah!

Husband - also happier today. Big relief.

Tomorrow... going to be busy. Work out (weights, some walking or maybe elliptical), come home and shower and get the kids dressed and take them to day care. Go to the doctor for my lovely annual exam. Then go get the kids from day care and take them to Kindermusik. Take them back to day care. Go to work for the afternoon. Pick up kids from day care, and get a Papa Murphy's pizza on the way home (a Friday tradition, only Loren usually gets the pizza, but he will be at Kung Fu tomorrow night). Feed kids, put them to bed, then relax. Maybe another bath. The one last night did me a lot of good - I love our jacuzzi tub.

a hard day

Today was just one of those days that was a toughie. I usually love my job, but work today was difficult. I'm troubleshooting a complex experiment and trying to figure out the best way to approach it...and I've got to get it to work sometime in the next month for a grant deadline. To top it off, co-worker D was out of the office and I needed several things from him to do some of the work I had to do. I did find some other things to get done, but darn it, I needed to do the things I couldn't do because of D's absence. Drat. It was just a fairly rotten day at work.

So, I left work a little early (30 mins) to go and get the kids. I sat in horrible miserable traffic for 25 minutes (twice as long as it takes when there is no traffic) on the way to the day care. When I got home w/the kids (who were both whiny), I discovered a note from Loren saying that he was way too tired to do anything, and that I was on my own w/the kids for the night. He was asleep on the bed. Great. I was planning to go to trunk or treat at the neighborhood church (hopefully to meet some neighbors and get the kids some candy w/o having to drag them everywhere) and decided I'd try to do it even if Loren wasn't up to it. I managed to get the kids in their costumes, pack the diaper bag, the feeding chair, and get Michelle in the stroller. We walked to the church, and when we got there I realized there was NO WAY I could possibly go through a buffet line to get dinner (they were having dinner before trunk or treat) for myself and the kids w/o any help. I still don't know many people in the neighborhood, and I was feeling down and miserable and didn't want to introduce myself to someone just to ask for help. I didn't see anyone I knew (I do know some people but not everyone), so I just decided to leave. Calvin cried when we left because he wanted to stay (they had some cute games for the kids, and he liked the crowd - he's a people person), but what could I do? I felt even worse then.

To top it off, I couldn't even change plans and go to our own church group tonight because last night I called and told the hosts we wouldn't be coming, because we had decided to take the kids either trick or treating or to the trunk or treat instead (with me working today it wouldn't have been possible to trick or treat AND get dinner AND get to the small group on time). Besides, I wouldn't have been able to handle the kids and get anything out of the group, and it's not fair to the other group members to bring the kids when there's no sitter (there would have been a sitter if I hadn't called to cancel, but I hadn't planned on Loren being exhausted). This is all very convoluted but to make a long story short I made the kids some mac n cheese, heated up some leftovers for myself, and we ate. The kids were pretty well behaved and they were cute at dinner, so at least I survived. Michelle smeared macaroni ALL OVER, including in her hair, so I had to give them a bath, and it was past their bedtime by the time I got them in bed.

I desperately need to unwind a bit so I might take a bath, after 9 pm so that I don't miss any trick or treaters. We don't get very many so I'm giving out the big candy bars and it's pretty entertaining to see the kids' reactions - worth every cent :)! Besides, I'm less likely to eat the big ones than the fun size ones, so it's safer for me. Weird, huh?

My laptop battery is tired and I need to plug in, so I'll be back later w/some pictures.

quick 5 miler, etc.

I was going to do 6 miles not-so-easy, but got up too late. So I did 5.1 miles instead (8.2k for my Canadian friends). It was nice & warm this morning at 48 degrees, and I felt pretty good despite only 5.5 hrs of sleep. I did the 8.2 k in 52'54" for 6:27/km. Was pushing a little, maybe 7 out of 10 for exertion, and ave HR was 147. The trick is going to be sustaining close to that pace for 2 hr 17 min for my half marathon next Sunday. I think I'm ready, but we'll see.

Last night I took Loren out for dinner for his birthday. We went to our favorite restaurant, The Paris. It was divine, as usual, and then we browsed a couple of bookstores before returning home. A great evening... but then I was up late and had to get up early. I'm tired today, have to work 4 hrs, go to a baby shower, teach a piano lesson, make dinner for the family and then get to go to a Murray Perahia concert tonight with Sarah.

Date night

Last night we had a great date night. We went to Bambara for a delightful meal, since the city is having Dine-O-Round right now, and you can try expensive restaurants for less. For $28 each, we got a 3 course meal - salad, entree, and dessert. Loren had rabbit with wild mushrooms (! I could not even try it ! Too close to home w/our pet rabbit !) and he said it was amazing, and I had Morgan Valley lamb with polenta. Delicious. The dessert was pistachio cake, which was just OK, probably because it was not chocolate. All the same, the coffee and the wonderful adult conversation with my husband were sublime.

Then on to the symphony. For the season opener, they played 2 of our favorites: Beethoven's Emperor Concerto, and The Planets by Holst. It was so amazing to go, since we hadn't been in a while. I just love the living, breathing organism that is the orchestra. It delights me to hear and see the musicians working together to create such a breadth of sounds and timbres. The piano concerto was splendid, really - the soloist, Andre Watts, was having the time of his life with this old warhorse of a piece. His musicianship was impressive, and the variety of sounds he coaxed from the piano were marvelous. He got SO into it, though, that he was singing along quite loudly at times - we could hear him readily from our 9th row seats. I didn't mind too much, though, because he was clearly enjoying the music for all it was worth, and that was what I came to do as well. After the intermission, the orchestra tackled The Planets. Loren and I agreed that Mars is our favorite, and the orchestra really could not have played it better. The solid wall of sound that the brass produced was totally over the top, and we loved it. The other planets were extremely well-executed too, and listening to the large performing force with the unusual instrumentation (bass oboe, bass flute, contrabassoon, 6 horns, celeste, glockenspiel, et.) was a treat.

Happy 14th Anniversary

OK, so it was a few weeks ago, but hey, at least I'm posting the picture! We enjoyed a nice dinner out at The Paris, one of the finest restaurants in the city (in our humble opinion, anyway).

Our secrets to 14 happy years? We communicate pretty well, we are able to put up with a lot of nonsense from each other, and we try to have fun whenever possible :).

Non-racewalking news

Enough walking stuff. Other news lately:

1) Got a new cell phone because my old one had some serious problems (buttons weren't working). I got a Nokia 6126, and it rocks. It has a sweet color screen and a very nice 1.3 mp camera.

2) Work has been somewhat stressful with a grant deadline approaching. I'm surviving though. I got a few extra hours in and made a little extra money, but it left me pretty tired last week. This week has been better, mostly.

3) I stink at Super Scrabble. My dad and my brother have beaten me every game this year. ARRRGH!

4) Nice husband is trying to spoil me for Mother's Day weekend, so I need to go hang out with him :). We went to Baskin Robbins tonight and I had a Kissables Sundae. Pretty good, but probably not worth the 21 points, all in all. At least I had saved up so it was legal :).

Being in shape has a big down side

After a marvelous bike ride partway up Millcreek Canyon tonight with Dorothy, I came home thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could talk L into biking some with me. After all, he really does love biking more than just about any other exercise. But no. He is flatly not interested in biking with me at all until he gets in better shape. How is he supposed to get in better shape if he won't go? I suggested we could bike flat rides, like the Jordan River or over by the airport. Nope. No dice. I am not sure I get it... I mean, it's not a competition. I would go as slow as he wanted. I just would love to have the company and hang out w/him some. I guess he feels threatened by the fact that I'm in better shape, though I'm not sure why. I did stuff with him when he was in better shape, and he waited for me, and that was great. Can a man in the reading audience help me understand what the deal is here? I'm just not getting it. :( I'm sad. I wish things were different somehow.