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My first 5K in a year!

IMG_5613The last time I ran a race was a year ago when I did the ROC (families run for ovarian cancer)run. I did walk (barely) for the RASCALS 5K run with Allyson about a month later. Since then I have been pretty much battling plantar fasciitis or recovery from surgery. And I’m going to be brutally honest I am sick of it! I am sick of my foot hurting pretty much every day. I haven’t really talked about it much because if left unspoken, it really isn’t happening. However, it is. There was about a two-week period where my foot felt great and then it went all to hell. And now by the time work ends both of my feet are hurting and I’m cussing because they wouldn’t amputate my foot like I wanted. I know my left foot is only acting up because I am back gimping on my right. And it’s not the plantar fascitiis pain either. (Of course it isn’t , it’s me I’m talking about). The outside of my right foot hurts because I think I’m rotating out when I walk to avoid the incisional pain. So I switched shoes and that  helped a little. Then I found my 700 custom orthotics and wore those. Now that really helped the arch of my foot but really bugged my heels on both feet. I cannot win for losing. However, this is all I am going to say on the subject. Oh and please if you are thinking she should just quit running that’s not even the issue. Besides today I haven’t run or did any kind of distance in three weeks and I still have pain. Also think about what you love most and never do it again. It freaking sucks BIG TIME.

So anyway I decided I was doing the run today and if I can’t walk tomorrow so be it. This is the third year in a row I have done this race and it is amazing. The sea of tea colored shirts is awesome and its nice to run besides women who are surviving ovarian cancer. The floor I work on, I take care of ladies with ovarian cancer. I see them when they are first diagnosed after surgery and sometimes never again. While I was running I thought of my most favorite patient who is now in heaven. I also thought about my first one who is now ten years in the survivorship. And there have been many more along the way. It kind of put a few things in perspective. My feet might hurt to the point of amputation but at least I am not dying or fighting one of the worst cancers ever. I’m looking forward to next years run as well. Who knows I may be in a wheelchair by then but I will be there!

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You’ve got to be kidding me!

I may have used this title before but it’s a good one so who cares.

Anyway yesterday I was working on my cake photo book (hyper-focused, not OCD) and went to the http://www.stl250.org website to look up something about the Ameristar Casino cake and lo and behold they have added another cake. So now there are two to grow on. This one is located up north at Express Scripts. I had read somewhere that they may end up putting a total for four to grow on cakes out before the end of the year. Ok this is so out of control. How can I totally focus on the Fox superintendent fiasco when I still have cakes distracting me.

Nothing else exciting happening in the mole household. Brian called me at three today to ask me to bring his golf clubs up to the golf course. For the first time ever, he forgot and left them at home. I am telling you, getting older sucks!

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The day at Six Flags

When the girls were younger we had season passes to Six Flags. After a few years we pretty much stopped going so I stopped buyingg them. Allyson has wanted to go all summer so I had decided by the time Fright Fest would roll around my foot would be ready for it. Over Labor day weekend they ran a special for a season pass for next year plus free parking for 50 dollars. Regular admission price is 45 and parking is outrageous at 20 bucks a visit. So I bit the bullet and bought Allyson, Kayla and I passes. Well today we decided to go and activate them. The park had hardly anyone there so there was no waiting. So within 90 minutes we had ridden Ninja, Mine Train, Boomerang, Superman and Screaming Eagle. Ok I am not sure what I was thinking because after the screaming eagle I had to go to the bathroom and vomit. And by vomit I don’t mean once or twice, it was multiple times. And let me just say I can barely tolerate McDonald’s coffee and coming back up was ten times more bitter than going down. I was done after that and the kids rode Mr. Freeze by themselves. It was about the time I finished  when I remembered why I stopped going to Six Flags. It can be summed up in four words! I AM TOO OLD! When I was younger my dad took my sister and I to Six Flags every summer. We would arrive when it opened, and stay until closing. I have no idea how he did this. And probably about five years after the screaming eagle opened (I was 9 when it opened and we waited 2 1/2 hours to ride it) we rode it 8 times in a row. I don’t even think I could ride it twice now without my head pounding. Speaking of which, I feel like I have a massive hangover so I am going back to laying down.

Lesson learned from today, next time I go I am sticking to the log flume and the old-time cars!

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Rachel you know you are a little OCD?

If you are wondering how I responded to that my answer was “a little OCD, I think I’m a lot OCD.” I then went on to say right now I’m obsessed with the cakes and the Fox C-6 superintendent debacle. The guy I was talking to follows me on Facebook so of course he cracked up.

My obsessive side of my personality can be a good and bad thing. Let’s look at the cakes for example. I got the idea in my head the week of July 11. On July 19 Allyson and I saw our first cakes which included the big bottle of ketchup. In just seven weeks I have dragged various people to 249. I am waiting until Emily comes home to see the last two because I came up with a fantastic way to end it three weeks ago. So the good is I set a goal and finished it. The bad I have done nothing else but cake plan and go-go-go for fear I would not finish before December 31 when the cakes are removed.

Unfortunately for my Facebook followers the superintendent fiasco is going to drag out much longer. It seems almost every day more and more shocking stuff is revealed.

Now back to being obsessive. That has been a plus in I have learned a lot about computers and technology and how to fix things myself. When I can’t take it anymore and I crack and call tech support and they start by saying unplug the cables I say I’ve already done the basics jump ahead a few screens.

I put a lawn mower together when I was 12. My mom couldn’t figure it out but I did. So yes I freely admit I’m a little OCD. Now if I were only that way about keeping an organized house or cooking.

I am working on my next obsession. I have to get back to scrapbooking. I’m a good two years behind. I am working on the cakes in an on-line photo book and I need to figure out how much to charge for t-shirt quilts. If it were up to me I would do it for cost of materials because get it keeps me from eating or driving all over St. Louis.

Mole moral- life is best for mom mole when she had a project going on.

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Soleil goes to the vet

We just got back from Soleil’s annual vet visit. First of all fat fry has lost 7 pounds so we should really call her skinny fry. The vet also has animal rescue and had an adoption event going on. In the next room there were kids playing with puppies which really had her attention. I have never seen her crooked ear up so much! However when the vet tech came in and attempted to draw blood, she wanted no part of that and ended up with a partially blown vein. It would take the vet to get her blood. Also Soleil is really getting grey in the face so I asked Dr. Smith if she was older than we thought. She said nope she’s just prematurely turning grey. So I guess that’s what life with moles does to you, makes you turn grey way too early!

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Emily Mole + Post office = Disaster

I use to love the post office until this summer. It’s been one fiasco after another. It started off this summer with the post office losing her textbooks and filing a claim to get the money back. I swear they took it out on Imperial post office. Every time I go to mail something they ask if I want insurance. I swear they know me. I have  paranoia issues. Anyway the next thing to happen was my Uncle sent her an iron skillet cookbook from Amazon. Someone else signed for it and stole it. He contacted amazon and a new one showed up. We are unsure if they sent a new one or tracked down the person that signed for it. On Saturday Emily gets a voicemail from a detective about stolen mail. I was a little skeptical it could be a scam like the IRS scammers saying if you don’t pay them right now you will be arrested in two hours. Now I should have known better, it was legit. It seems a suspect was apprehended and found with a bunch of people’s mail including Emily’s. What did they take of hers you ask? Why her birth control pills of course because we have to use a mail order company out of FL. They are so stupid that one of Brian’s doctors swear they operate out of the back of a tractor-trailer and get the medicine from Mexico. Anyway we have to call them and have them resend. They are liable to charge me full price but perhaps a police report will help. I cannot believe this. I don’t think she will get them back anytime soon if ever. And certainly not before they expire! Oh the life of a Mole.

Mole moral: If you mail Emily anything send it certified so she has to go to the post office and sign for it!

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This weekend’s cake adventures

Yes I am still obsessed with the stl250 cakes that are planted around St. Louis. I have successfully found and photographed 224 cakes while dragging various family members and friends of family members with me. This weekend I conned my niece Sierra into going with me on Saturday and then Bridget with me on Sunday. It’s what happens when my immediate family leaves me for a weekend of fun and I am working on Labor Day.

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Yesterday started out with a bang. We went to the Harley Davidson store to see that cake. Well my sister decided to park in the motorcycle parking because she didn’t see regular car parking. As we walk to the cake all the Harley dudes are inside the place watching us. As we are leaving the owner comes out and gives her crap for parking where the motorcycles go. As we are leaving Sierra yells from the back seat “Mom don’t hit a motorcycle.” We always run into other people who are out taking pictures of the cakes as well. While at the civil war museum cake we asked the cake group to take our picture together.

 

 

 

IMG_5177The cake that surprised me the most was at the youth bridge community foundation. You see above it was a sign that said Haven House. This place provides a place for out-of-town people to stay and is cheaper than a hotel. We use to send the NICU moms there before the Ronald McDonald house was built on Mercy property. It was really cool to see the place after hearing its name all these years.

 

 

 

 

 

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Our 200th cake happened to be at the YMCA where my good friend Meg Barry goes. We attempted to make 200 with our hands forgetting it looked right to us but was backwards to everyone else.

 

 

 

IMG_5193I think the most awkward cake of the day was at Old St. Ferdinand Shrine. There was a wedding getting ready to start so I simply jumped out of the car, zoomed my camera and took a picture as fast as possible. It is the only cake so far that doesn’t have someone in it. I thought it might be just a little rude to say hey wait a minute can you let us bust through the gate and get a quick photo!

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_5199So today Bridget and I head out and our first clue that today was going to be a nightmare was when part of the road to Bevo Mill was shut down for a carnival. We parked and walked to it, and got whistled at on the way. We both looked at each other like did that really just happen. I haven’t been to Bevo Mill since I was a school nurse and we had lunch there at Christmas time. What’s really weird is just yesterday when I was out walking the dog I ran into Anne who was also a Lutheran school nurse at the same time I was. She lives in the neighborhood behind me. The last time I saw her was when she had her daughter who is now six.

 

 

 

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I must say that the Dogtown cake was the absolute worst one to find ever. It said it was located on the median on Tamm Ave. Ok that was total BS. There is no median anywhere on Tamm because Bridget and I drove the entire road twice. The address listed was in front of a church and there was no cake there. I almost got hit by pulling out in front of someone because of looking for the cake. I happened to randomly look up a street not even close to the address and there was the cake. Some guy yells out the window at us not to be taking our picture with the cake or it will cost money. I kid you not, I was about to knock on someone’s door on the street and ask them where the cake was. You see I get super obsessive when I can’t find something or figure it out and no way was I leaving without seeing the cake!

 

 

IMG_5225The next few cakes were uneventful and then we went to fountain park where the cake was located by the Martin Luther King statue. The area was really cool because it was sort of like a round about but with houses everywhere. We jump out and take the picture and head back to the car. There is an older couple outside in the front yard fussing at each other. I am trying to quickly put in the next stop when I accidentally honk the horn. Ok that got like four people’s attention. I was like I cannot believe this we have to get out of here. I have had a couple of people ask me if I would do this without GPS. There is no way. I have zero navigational skills and even if I had directions on paper if I got lost there is no telling where I would end up. I have seen parts of St. Louis that I would have never seen otherwise. First of all I would have never been able to find them and if I did stumble onto them I would never find my way back home. One of the better gifts God ever gave me was the GPS navigational tool. Oh and Siri was getting on my nerves so bad, I changed her to a male voice. But by the end of this day sex change Siri was on my nerves too!

IMG_5230We ran into more cakers at the cemetery who told us about a really close cake so we headed off to the old chain of rocks bridge. Once again the address put us in the middle of a field. Luckily they had given us some direction although they said they drove down the bike trail to reach the cake. I don’t have that kind of nerve so we went down the road farther and found the cake. It also said it had bathrooms and it had been quite a while so Bridget and I said cool. Yeah cool alright they were the nastiest Johnny on the spots I had ever seen. I think we would have been better off finding a bush. The cake was really cool so it was worth the drive.

 

 

 

There is a cake at the airport so that meant we had to park to go see it. It cost us five dollars to park for twenty minutes. Talk about a rip off. It explains why most people use the cell phone lot when picking people up from the airport. You sit on a parking lot that has an electronic sign that tells you when the flights have landed. When the passengers get their luggage they call you and you pull up and pick them up. Anyway the airport had banners that explained the 250 cakes. Hopefully if I post the pictures that I took of them you will be able to read them. It kind of explains why they are all over the place and not necessarily just in St. Louis. They made the trip and the five bucks worth it. I think I missed the 50 places banner. Well bummer!

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Technology hates me

Everyone has always heard Mac computers don’t get virus’s so you don’t need antivirus software. Well guess what my blankety blank blank blank Mac got one, and it took me about three hours to get rid of it. I downloaded a free antivirus app and it detected it and since you don’t uninstall anything, I drug it all to the trash can and then threw it away. I was trying to work on my cake photo book and kept getting a stupid pop up about upgrading my media player. I knew that was bogus and the research of how to get rid of it began. So my afternoon off of work was once again spent fighting with technology. 

Mole moral: if it’s not suppose to happen, it will happen to a mole!!

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A crazy day

Well the first clue that the day would be crazy was the fact I was scheduled for a 12 hour day shift. I traded with someone that needed the day off. I had five patients and discharged all of them and got five new ones throughout the day. They all had me hopping and I even had to have some help because I coukdnt keep up. That doesn’t happen too often and then just as things are slowing down for a bit I get this text from Kayla.

Mom I think I killed the dog.

To which I responded

you better not have.

It seems my middle child let the dog out abd then left for school. The poor dog was outside for about three hours. So Kayla put a rag on her neck and she perked right up. And then work got crazy again and I forgot about the dog. She seems fine this evening. And we do have a pool that she could have jumped into but she hates water so I don’t think she would have. She’s a crazy mole dog!

 

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The ALS ice bucket challenge

The ALS ice bucket challenge has been going around social media for the past few weeks. It’s simple someone calls their friends out and then dumps a bucket of ice water on their head. The person called out has 24 hours to also dump ice water on their head or to donate to ALS. Well all along I thought dumping ice water on one’s head is stupid and I would just donate. Thursday night as I was trying to fall asleep I thought about my friend Bob Stehlin who has been battling ALS since 9/11/09. Obviously the five-year mark is less than a month away and the disease has robbed him of almost everything except the ability to eat and move a couple of fingers. He has not been out of his wheelchair in a year. He can no longer hold his head up. This disease is horrible! Actually there isn’t a word strong enough to actually describe it unless I would launch into a sailor mouth type of speaking. Anyway as I was falling asleep I thought man if Bob could stand up and dump ice on his head, he would do it in a heartbeat. And from there I decided who I was calling out. The girls I work with call me CR (crazy Rachel) and with good reason. Please watch the video and understand the nickname. My daughter stopped the video because I forgot to tell her that I was going to say a couple more things. I was going to say if you would like to learn about Bob’s story visit http://www.rascals.org. (That stands for Robert A Stehlin Cure for A L S).

Also if you haven’t donated and would like to donate directly to Bob and Laura you can do so here.

https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/xs45/robert-a-stehlin-family-benefit.

Enjoy my video, share if you want!