The importance of friends
This week I’ve been reminded by how important my friends are to me. With no family near by, my friends are my family here. I spend most of my time glued to my computer, and while I do have interactions with a number of people online and virtually, there is still something unique to be gained by getting out of the house and meeting in person with like-minded individuals. I met a good friend for lunch today. Our sons are the same age, we used to be in another mom’s group together and be in the same playgroup. I stopped going to that group a long while ago, but she and I still stayed in touch sporadically. We try to meet up every few months and catch up. It was so energizing to talk with her today. And then again tonight I met up with the mom’s group I’m in. I come home feeling so empowered and strong. This is not a feeling I have felt walking away from any online interaction.
Whether you are a stay at home mom, or working mom, or work at home mom; I think we forget to take time for ourselves. I know I am a much more balanced, happy, and strong person from the in-person interactions I have with my friends. I know so many moms so focused on how well socialized their children are – our own socialization is just as important!
It was one of the smartest things I did before we moved – I knew we were moving to a new area where we knew no one and even more difficult was a strong and widespread culture of which I was not a part of. I knew finding my own niche of friends would be critical in order for me not to lose my mind completely. That is the mom’s group I’m in now – a group specifically formed for moms in my exact situation. I joined the group within the first few weeks of our arrival here, and have been meeting with them ever since. It’s changed over the years, some members have come and gone, some have moved away – but the idea is still basically the same, and I am so thankful to have them. I think I take it for granted that I have that escape and the group of people I can recharge with. Sometimes I’ll skip meeting up with them and (WHY???!?!) opt to continue working instead. So I’m putting this out there as a reminder to myself too – nothing can replace the getting out, that in-person connection. And it is so important.
Flu (do NOT say swine!)
So I’ve apparently come down with some sort of flu. After Tuesday’s Hip Hop Hustle class, towards the evening, my legs started aching. I figured it was just from the class – although it’s not usual for me to get so achy like that, especially when, as I had said originally, I hadn’t really pushed myself that hard during the class. The next day I woke up with a really bad headache and my lymph nodes were swollen on the back of my neck. I tried to head it off with Motrin, and took it throughout the day, but it didn’t seem to really want to let go. THEN when I woke up today… the headache was still there, my neck was KILLING me, every muscle in my body ached and I just felt BAD. Time to call the doctor.
She did not test me for swine flu, because in the end, the treatment she was going to give me would be the same. (Tamiflu) She asked me if I had chills or a fever – at the time, I didn’t have those symptoms, but by the afternoon I did. My fever spiked to 102 this afternoon and I had major chills. Felt like all my skin was contracting without my control.
I’ve never had anything like this before. I don’t have any respiratory issues except for the fact that this morning it felt like someone was sitting on my chest making it difficult for me to breathe. No runny nose. No cough. I started the Tamiflu immediately (hopefully that will help shorten the length of this) and I loaded up on Motrin to get my fever down, and pain meds to deal with all the aches. So now I’m sort of feeling okay – but just can’t seem to get my body temperature to normalize. I get under the covers under the bed and I literally sweat. I get on top of the covers, and I freeze. I’m kind of wiped out, but not tired.
I’ve locked myself away in the bedroom and Sam is currently taking over all kid-related duties – I really do NOT want them to get this. Zachary snuck away from him tonight and came in the room asking for a hug. I felt so bad shooing him away (of course I explained to him it was because I was sick and I didn’t want him to get it too) I said goodnight to Rachel via the phone on intercom. 
The other not so nice side of this: I don’t have time to be sick. (Who does) I just got a new client – so this is their first impression of me. I have a major project due this week. I have a bunch of new projects starting next week. Aside from the fact that Sam is going to go crazy if he is in charge of the kids for too many days, Rachel’s birthday party is next weekend. 1) I’ve got to be better by then!!! and 2) NO ONE ELSE CAN GET SICK before then. I will feel terrible if I have to cancel her party. We actually haven’t done a birthday party for her in a few years. So this was going to be a big deal for her.
Ugh!!!
P.S. (Oh and just because I’m on the subject of complaining – so I’m stuck in the bedroom – why is there nothing but crap on the TV?? None of my favorite shows are on)
Hip Hop Hustle!
My 24 Hour Fitness just started a new class for Tuesday nights: Hip Hop Hustle. I take the Zumba class on Thursday nights and have been loving it – so another dance-style aerobics class was definitely something I had to try. It was totally awesome. In fact, I may even like it better than Zumba, which is really saying something. I wear a Polar F7 Heart Rate monitor (HRM) when I exercise, and even when I run, I struggle to get it to read a 300 calorie burn. When I’ve gotten it to read 400 – I know I’ve really pushed it. Well, in Hip Hop Hustle, I didn’t even feel like I was working that hard. There’s definitely room to work harder, but with my workload recently, I just wasn’t up to more than coasting through the class. Even still, my HRM had me burning over 400 calories. That was with me not even feeling that tired after the class!! When I’m up to working harder, I wonder how high that calorie burn is going to be!
If you have access to a Hip Hop Hustle class, and you like dance-style aerobics, definitely check it out. I know that how much fun a class is can really be dependent on the instructor. So if you don’t like one class, try another one with a different instructor to see if you might like the class better. (That goes for Zumba classes too – which I still plan on going to on)