The last few weeks have been nuts for me. How about you?
What is it about autumn that makes so many of our schedules overflow with impossible expectations – many of which are self-imposed, I’ll admit – so much that the time flies by and suddenly you realize, I have to start thinking about CHRISTMASTIME! (Especially considering how cold it’s been out there lately…OH, HOW I LOVE MY CUDDL DUDS!!!…)
Here are a few highlights from the past month. Well, actually no. Mostly the past 2 weeks…because honestly so much happened in the last 2 weeks that I can’t really remember much before then!!!
My Website got a New Look
My blog got a makeover! Did you notice? Before it had a basic design and wasn’t mobile-responsive, and I felt it just needed an overall update, so for the past year I’ve been trying to get it done (I won’t bore you with the details of why it took a year…).
Finally I found a designer I could rely on (ok, that might have been a hint about why it took a year…).
My awesome designer’s name is Jared and his wife has a great blog at www.girlwithblog.com. Jared is a website outfitter and his website is http://jaredrendell.com/.
I’m still working on a TON of things to make this site better, and will be revealing them little by little in the coming weeks. IF they all go well…and with Jared helping me I’m confident they will..then this site will be a more valuable – and fun – resource for all of you!
I Co-Coordinated a Halloween Trunk-or-Treat at my Church
Last week I co-coordinated a Halloween Family Party & Trunk-or-Treat event at my church (where I also work). It was the first one we had in the 10 years I’ve been at this church and it took place a week before Halloween. With so many other churches hosting similar events, and remembering attending church Halloween parties as a kid, my co-worker Linda and I decided it would be fun to do the same.
It turned out to be a huge success. A LOT of work, but worth it. We had volunteers of all ages be part of it, from kids to seniors. And we had twice as many people come as we expected. Kids LOVE attending events in costume. And our family is no different:
I Went to Urgent Care for a Rapid Heartbeat
With all the work of my website, the Halloween event at my church, moody, restless kids who don’t sleep as much as they should (anyone else have this problem), and a boatload of other random things that have come up in the past few weeks, my health was sort of put into a bit of a tizzy.
At choir practice one night, for absolutely no reason I could feel my heart racing. The whole evening. I had a choir member, who’s a nurse, take my pulse and it was 100.
100? I know that 60 – 100 is normal, but sitting at a piano for an hour and a half, and not having had ANY caffeine all day, not to mention that I didn’t just run a 10-mile marathon to get to the choir rehearsal, should not cause a heart rate of 100.
And of course, WORRYING about having a rapid heart rate doesn’t really help to reduce it a whole lot.
Concerned, I went to Urgent Care right after rehearsal. And I prayed that I would be ok.
At Urgent Care my heart rate was 90. Still higher than normal for me, so I had all the tests…chest X-ray, blood test, urine test (ewww), and and an EKG.
Nothing found.
So, I was told it was probably stress.
GREAT.
Well, it is good news, but how can a busy mom like myself reduce stress? Okay, there are ways, but REALISTICALLY???
My heart rate did go down to normal, and the next day the rest of my blood test results came in. Everything was fine except for my kidneys. Which I have never had a problem with. They were functioning slightly less than normal, so the notes said to drink lots of fluids and follow-up in 2 weeks.
Interestingly, in the past week I had noticed pain in my lower back where my kidneys were.
And then, a few days later, I had terrible lower back pain. TERRIBLE. So I drank literally 4 tall glasses of water. Oddly, the more I drank, the more I wanted to drink. Clearly, I was dehydrated and didn’t know it. Shortly after, the pain in my lower back subsided and I was fine by the next morning.
AHA!
So, stress and dehydration were messing with my heart and kidneys.
This was a wake-up call for me to 1) manage stress better and 2) drink plenty of water. Both of these things can easily get neglected and wreak havoc on the body. So learn from me and don’t let yourself get too stressed out (I know, easier said than done) and drink lots of fluids (even if you’re not thirsty – you might discover you are after you start drinking like I did!).
SO! Those are some highlights from the past few crazy weeks in my life.
Have you experienced a rapid heartbeat from stress? I’d love to hear of anyone’s similar experiences.