Participants: Family minus Josh (Scout Camp) plus cousins Jake and Caly
Task: Caterpillars for 25 minutes.
Gold Star for the day undoubtedly goes to Andrew. He needed some encouragement but he ran the entire thing. He has never gone that far or that long non-stop before. I was very impressed with him. It was good to not see him quit, which is normally the problem. He gives up on hard things, but not today!
Every else did just fine. It was a nice slow pace so they didn’t quite run 2 miles. They all ran well and I didn’t hear any complaining.
This is the first time we’ve done Caterpillars without a baton to pass back. Instead, that last person would simply wait until they saw the person ahead of them finish their sprint, and then they would sprint to the front themselves. This adds more sprinting by eliminating the time for the baton to be passed back. They all handled it quite well. The added runner helped mitigate the extra running.
Overall a very good run. This is the first running log in a few weeks because we’ve been doing other things, so it was good to get back “on track.” I was able to walk almost a full lap with JR at a VERY slow pace. The time spent standing though took its toll and I was in quite a bit of pain at the end. Lifting Steven to get a drink near the end was excruciating.
I have video for you today… Enjoy!
UPDATE: new video without the music that got blocked!
Anticipating a move from Pleasant Grove to Bluffdale this summer, we went ahead and registered the kids for school up in the Jordan School District. They are still registered for PG next year too in case we don’t get moved like we have planned on.
Caitlin
Caitlin completed 9th grade this year, which in Utah is at the middle school. So she is now ready to move onto the higher education I suppose.
PGJH had a fairly well run routine for getting kids registered. Caitlin wasn’t thrilled with her registration at PG High however. There were a number of classes she wanted to get into that were unavailable by the time she was allowed to register. She got into the core classes she needed, but the electives she wanted were filled.
I went over to Riverton High School a few weeks before the year ended to get her registered. After handling the paperwork they gave me the login info to get her into classes for next year.
Surprisingly Riverton had all of her desired classes available except for photography. She got into Physics, Digital Media, and Sign Language as well as her core classes. I’m not sure if Riverton just has more teachers for those electives and that is why they were open, or if she lucked out that not as many people at RHS wanted those classes.
I think she is looking forward to the new year and moving into High School. She turns 15 this summer, so personally I’m not ready for her to be a High School student.
Joshua
Joshua had an interesting year. He started the year in 8th grade in MO and ended it in 7th grade at PGJH. At his request, he’ll be going through 7th grade again next year.
His birthday is in late July. That means that by Utah deadlines next year he should be one of the youngest 8th graders. He doesn’t particularly like being one of the youngest, and so holding him back a year would make him one of the oldest 7th graders. But because his birthday is so close to the deadline he the age gap isn’t any different. By that I mean he is just as close to the 7th graders in age as he is to the 8th graders. So socially it isn’t a big deal.
Academically he is plenty smart enough to have stayed in 8th grade all last year and move into 9th this year. But because of the homeschooling time, and the time lost to fires, he does have some gaps in his knowledge. He’s smart enough to move ahead, but he’d rather not.
So next year Josh will be in 7th grade, again, at South Hills Middle. Because it is 7th grade there isn’t a lot of variability in his schedule like there is in Caitlin’s. He’ll be where ever the 7th grade puts him.
Sports
A portion of his decision making in that regard was athletics. He loves sports. And while he is intelligent enough to move ahead, physically he knows he couldn’t compete athletically that way. Being smart doesn’t make your body mature or grow any faster than anybody else. That takes time, and he’s willing to spend that time (an additional school year) letting his body mature so that he has a chance to compete and play on sports teams.
Julie and I were torn on this. We both value academic education very highly. If he’d stayed ahead he could have graduated High School at 16. If he moved up with this class he’d finish at 17. By moving back he’ll finish at 18. But that isn’t HIS goal. And it is HIS life, so we will support his decision on how he wants to spend it and what goals he wants to chase after, even if it isn’t what we would choose.
We’ll compensate by getting him into concurrent enrollment, summer college courses, or other alternate education options. There is no reason that he can’t excel at both academics and athletics as so many others have done.
Elementary School
All of the other kids are moving up a year as expected. We’ll even be having a new one enter the system. One of them did express some hope of doing homeschooling again. So it is possible that we’ll have at least one at home with us.
I’d love to keep them all of the elementary kids home as I really, really don’t like public schooling. At all! But that might need to wait until we are more settled in. As soon as we are I’d love to keep the kids at home around us.
And so that is what we have planned for next year’s schooling. With 6 of 8 going to school the house will feel very empty I’m afraid. Wish us luck!
As documented, I’ve been keeping track of the running exercises that the family has been doing. Everybody is doing fantastic and getting better. They all especially enjoyed the “mini-marathon” that the Central Elementary put on as a fund raiser.
This is were Istart gettingangry!
We were hoping to also let them run in the Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days 5K this summer. Julie did some checking into the registration and we will no longer be participating. Apparently the ba***rds involved think that it costs them $20 per participant to run along their city streets!?!
How the hell am I supposed to be able to afford $100 to let five family members run? $100 to use your public streets for 45 minutes?!? What are those costs covering?? Running requires no actual costs in equipment, nor any specialized skills. There are no hard costs involved since your roads being used are already paid for through the taxes you take. Can any reason justify $20 PER PERSON to participate in an event with no inherent costs?
Almost every city runs some kind of ‘town days’ event in order to bring out their citizens and provide them with some activities to enjoy together. Strawberry Days is one of those events, and is one of the longest running ‘town days’ in Utah. It is meant for community involvement! It isn’t a business endeavor or private event. Yet I’ve seen private for-profit running events, at much nicer venues, that cost less!
We know there are many events that are costly to put on that we can’t take advantage of. But running? We should be able to afford that!! Are you intentionally trying to keep the poorer members of the community out? You have priced out any struggling members of this community! Or is this also a fundraising event instead of one intended to increase community involvement?
‘Running’ a Scam!
So I’m a bit angry. The historical purpose for these town days events has apparently been abandoned. It is no longer about bringing people together in mutual activity. Or at least those activities are only made available to those with better financial fortunes than the Jensens have.
I know this is a minor ‘first-world-problem’ thing, and that many people with financial problems have it much worse than I do. But I’m mad on their behalf too. How many people would like to participate in this type of should-be-affordable community event, but can’t because the “community” has priced them out of it? There are so few entertainments that poor people get to do or participate in. Running should be within their financial reach!
Maybe I need to retake an anger management course, but I can’t tell you how utterly ridiculous I find this pricing. I’ve fluctuated between smolderingly mad and blinding rage.
Your streets are not that great PG, it is not some great prestigious event to run on them. No fame comes to the winner and no glory is bestowed by the heavens. How about next year you keep your community events at a price point that doesn’t cut out your community?
Deep breaths Jax, keep taking deep breaths and relax.
It is time again for another doomed-to-fail weight loss attempt. Why Do I Do This To Myself?
It’s Glaringly Obvious!
Every time I look in a mirror, try to walk up a flight of stairs, or attempt to pick something up off of the ground, it is obvious why I need to lose weight. I’m a big, fat, slug of a man. The pain sucks. My back can’t handle the stress the weight causes. I’ve consistently gained 10lbs a year since getting injured. I don’t expect I could make it to my 50’s if don’t reverse course.
If I want to see my kids grow up or get married than I have to make weight loss a priority. If I would like to be able to remain mobile much longer than I must shed some pounds. I’d really love to be able to stop using my cane. If I continue to balloon then eventually my ankles, knees, or back will just give out and I’ll be in really bad shape. It should be glaringly obvious that if I want any quality of life that changes need to happen.
But I Also Have No Idea!
While it IS glaringly obvious that I need to lose weight, I simultaneously have no idea why I do this to myself. I have tried and failed so many time that I have no confidence that I can succeed. Does another attempt make any sense if I have anticipate failure? Yes, the results seem desirable and worth the effort; No, they don’t seem achievable.
But hey, would I really be “me” if I didn’t occasionally try insanely stupid things that seem doomed to failure from the beginning? Maybe it’s time for a “Here, hold my beer Sprite” type of moment.
Weight Loss Efforts
I will not be doing anything drastic. I will be trying to combine a small change in what I eat (my “diet”) with a small increase in exercise.
What I eat (diet)
I think the biggest effect could come from just a slight amount of self-control, namely, not eating or snacking after scriptures/bedtime for the kids. This usually happens around 9pm at our house, but I routinely consume a significant number of calories after this time. Eliminating this “after hours” eating could/should have the biggest impact on my weight loss.
I don’t usually have much of a breakfast, due mostly to morning back pain keeping me in bed until after normal breakfast hours. I know breakfast is “the most important meal of the day,” but this probably won’t change. My morning consumption however has already been changed from cereal or bacon/eggs into a fruit/veggie juice.
Julie and I bought a Champion Juicer that we love. We’ve had one for years (replaced after each fire). Julie has been making fresh juices for us most mornings as breakfast. The juicer tears apart the cells releasing the nutrients rich contents and eliminating the pulp/cell membrane.
A typical juice for two would include:
3 apples
1/10 of a pineapple
1/2 cup of mixed berries (blueberries, strawberry, raspberry, etc)
2 carrots
1/2 cucumber
1/2 stalk of celery
1 serving of some type of squash (zucchini, crook necked, etc)
small handful of spinach or kale (kale is bitter, use sparingly)
There are numerous books, websites, blogs, etc. that give you other recipes that are great. This one is kind of Julie’s go-to recipe. Just run it all through the juicer, stir, and enjoy. You can get a full days nutrients from just one glass of fresh juice. And it is easier than trying to eat that quantity of produce.
Exercise
This one has always been tough. The chronic pain makes everything hard. Combined with seeing how much ability I’ve lost, it becomes is very depressing. How do I overcome that?
I had always played a variety of sports that would have me running and jumping. But my weight and back problems don’t let me do either of those. AT ALL! Thankfully it is summer now, which provides an easy way to neutralize my massive weight: swimming.
Being in water relieves the stress that the weight puts on my body. It doesn’t hurt my leg joints nor my back. The plus side of having this much blubber is it’s buoyancy! The local Pleasant Grove pool is only open in summer, and so I am looking forward to taking advantage of our family pass.
The downside to swimming though is that in order to breath one must keep ones head out of the water. I’ve found that the arch in my back that this requires creates a more-than-acceptable level of pain. So in years past I haven’t swam either.
I’m ashamed to say it took me 9 years to solve the problem of breathing with my face underwater.
My magical breathe-under-water device. A snorkel and mask!
I don’t know why this “new technology” eluded me for so long, but I’m happy to say that I can now swim, pain free. Shoulder surgeries has left them weak which could be a problem with swimming too. Happily, I’ve found that also using fins give me plenty of propulsion to keep me at the surface without engaging my arms (the blubber helps too!).
So I can avoid back pain, rest my arms/shoulders when tired, and can get some exercise! I am thrilled and excited about this.
Optimism
I’m leery that something will go wrong. In the last few years something always seems to for me. But I am more cautiously optimistic. Not necessarily that I’ll lose weight, but that I can at least increase my activity level without a corresponding increase in pain.
If I can exercise, and if I can control what I eat, perhaps the weight loss will come. If weight loss can occur, perhaps the pain will decrease (or disappear?). And if I can be healthy and if the pain goes away, perhaps the depression/anxiety/PTSD will get better too. That is far too many if‘s for me to be hopeful, but maybe feeling doomed to failure isn’t realistic either.
So wish me luck. Words of encouragement are always welcome. Prayers are appreciated. Feel free to ask me how it is going. I need the accountability.
And please, stop running away and screaming when I take my shirt off at the pool. That could make a person feel bad you know 🙂
Not a moment too soon, school is out for the kids here in PG.
How It All Began!
I hope the kids don’t expect us to make each day as great as this one was. Their Aunt Jenni had a huge hand in making the day great. School ended at 10:30, and by 11:00 they were all soaking wet from water balloons, slip ‘n slide, kiddie pool, and eventually entire 5 gallon buckets of mayhem. It was awesome. The video didn’t do justice to that part of the day simply because my recording was so poor.
The pool was fun, but the wind made it a bit on the cool side. Only Caitlin and Joshua were there with their cousin. I got a LOT of video from that. Some of it good, much of it boring.
This summer will offer lots of time at the pool, and lots of time working. I’ll do what I can to give video whenever I have time or energy to do so.
