Just Wanted....

to say "Happy New Year" to everyone. Wishing you a year filled with much Joy, Love and Happiness. Hope the New Year is a "Kind n Gentle" one to everyone.

As for Michelle and her resolutions, she sure left the door open huh? And I quote....

*I reserve the right to add to or subtract from this list as I see fit up to and including January 1, 2008*

To that, all I can say (other then "You Go Girl") is....

"A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other".

Have a great day everyone! "God Bless"

potential new year's resolutions

With Christmas now behind us, it seems that it's time to start looking forward to the new year. For many of us, that means taking inventory of our habits, lifestyles, vices, etc. It is time to consider what constructive modifications we can make to our present situation in order to shape ourselves into the kind of human being that we are satisfied to see looking back at us from the reflection in our bathroom mirrors. I have taken some time this holiday season to contemplate some changes I'd like to make in my life over the coming year.

Invariably for me, each new year begins with several affirmations to make positive changes. I always plunge head first with eagerness into the assignment - or at least with half-assed good intentions. Sometimes I get swept up in the momentum that my resolutions generate. But most often - like so many New Year's Resolutions gone bad before mine - my fresh outlook on life fizzles out within weeks.

Last year, I made lots of New Year's resolutions. I had been through some pretty dramatic life changes in the year before, and set out to fix some of the issues that needed to be addressed. One such promise to myself was to become a runner. I'm still working on that, but I'm proud to say that is the one resolution in my whole life that I've ever stuck to. I'm going to make a list here of all of my New Year's Resolutions for 2008. I know the chances of living up to all of the promises that I make here are slim to none, but if I make one positive change, or alter one negative habit, then this exercise will be a success. It's important to change and grow. In my opinion, there's no easier way to grow bored with oneself then to allow one's evolution to stagnate.

So here they* are:

1. Run a marathon. [duh]


2. Get back to the gym, religiously.


3. Quit smoking. [Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Shut up.]


4. Be a better friend.


5. Spend more quality time with my kids.


6. Swear more. There's not enough profanity in this world.


7. Learn something new. I'd like to learn HTML or something to do with web design. [Yes, I'm serious. What...?]


8. Learn more about Tinnitus.


9. Make others aware of Tinnitus [duh]


10. Eat my vegetables (!) and drink 8 glasses of water a day.


11. Become a Bond girl. [As if this hadn't crossed your mind too.]


12. Read more.


13. I'm contemplating getting in touch with my spiritual side [Can you use the word 'contemplate' when discussing New Year's Resolutions?]


14. Complete the viewing of the Harry Potter series.

*I reserve the right to add to or subtract from this list as I see fit up to and including January 1, 2008.

If there is anyone reading this (Hi, Dad!) good luck with your New Year's resolutions. Let me know what they are via the 'Comments' section of this post...if you are so inclined.

All the best for 2008!

public service message

[This post is definitely off topic - maybe even off colour. But consider it a public service message. There are some crazy people out there, shopping right now. On your guard!!]


Dear Christmas Shopper, Standing Behind Me in the Check Out Line at the Local Department Store;

Would it be okay with you if I paid for my purchase, had it bagged and presented to me by the cashier and perhaps even received my CHANGE and RECEIPT, before you RAM your SHOPPING CART into my HIP, in an effort to get your purchase on the counter??

Like, WHAT is it that you think will happen if you don't get your stuff on this counter ASAP?

I can tell by the crazed look in your glassy eyes that if your transaction isn't completed within the next 30 seconds, something catastrophic is going to occur. I can't imagine what it will be though. Your bag of Doritos is going to EXPLODE?? Your Hanes Her Way Granny Briefs are going to unravel, leaving you with nothing but two (very large) panels of purple fabric?

Let's try this. I'll pay for my stuff, and be on my way. Then, YOU can pay for YOUR stuff.

Seasons Greetings,

Michelle

newest member!

I was pretty excited today to see that some of our younger ‘generation’ are assembling themselves as future Tinnitus Marathon team members!!

My friends Eddie and Michelle showed me this picture of their adorable 3-month old son Ty. They took this photo of him while he was training to go jogging with his Aunt Gooty (that’s me!)

Not only does he have the cutest smile - he’s also a natural. Just look at the form on him!

can you hear that?

I've been reading alot of articles on the internet about Tinnitus. While I have found most to be fairly informative, I've struggled with finding ways to present the information here, on this blog. My intent isn't to fill these pages with medical facts, evidence and statistics. It wouldn't exactly be an easy read, especially if you're not familiar with the material being presented. And let's be honest - none of us (with the exception of tinnitus patients) are experts on the subject.

So, I turned to You Tube for information on tinnitus. You Tube hasn't always been my first choice for visually stimulating material, but I was interested to see what would turn up.

Here, I was surprised to have generated several results, when I typed the word 'tinnitus' into their search engine. Here, I was also appalled at some of the stupidity and ignorance of the people who posted videos and comments regarding this condition. But, there were a handful of helpful and informative videos, like the one I've posted here. I like the theme in this video, and I think the image it creates is one that most of us will relate to.



Dude with the white collar reminds me a bit of Andrew Ridgley from WHAM!. Remember him? George Michael's sidekick? He gets on my nerves a bit in this video, but I'm willing to overlook that small nuisance in the name of getting the message out there.

Just Wondering

Morning everyone! Have a quick question for you all. How many of you sat down and had a nice quiet breakfast this morning? Me, I can't recall what quiet is anymore. Just a very distant memory now.

Kind of a lousy weekend here, missed my granddaughter's birthday party and will miss my grandson's Basketball game a bit later this morning. He's good too!

Why do I miss these oh so important events in the lives of my loved ones? Answer is short but not sweet. Simply put, activities of this nature bring out the worst in "T." So, am left little choice. "Defence mechanism" kicks in and tells me, "No way, you can't handle that!" And that's that! Game over!

Score..."T" 14753 give or take.
Score..Me 0

"Happy Birthday Carsyn"

"Have a great game, Connor"

"Much Love, Opa"

sunday long run - turned short

My scheduled run today was 10 miles. I was so excited to get this one behind me; then I'd officially be into 'double digits'.

However, my propensity for procrastination took over at approximately 6.45 am when my alarm clock went off. I took one look outside at the crap on the ground... er, I mean new-fallen snow, launched my alarm clock across the room, rolled over and swiftly returned to my slumber. At 9am I was stirred from my sleep again, this time by the sound of freezing ice pellets slamming themselves against my window. It was at that time, that I made the incredibly difficult decision to NOT get out of bed to run 10 miles in the ice rain.

By 2pm the guilt was catching up to me, and so I phoned a local health club to see if I could run on their treadmill, even though I'm not a member. 'Oh, certainly!!' cried the excessively chipper voice on the other end of the phone. 'You can have a DAY pass for $10!!'

'OH!', said I, trying to mirror her enthusiasm. 'Ten dollars!! What time do you close?'

'4 o'clock', came the reply.

'Well I guess I better get my butt over there, so I can get my ten dollars worth of treadmill running in then, eh?'

Anyway, by the time I got my bag packed, drove across town, changed and found the treadmill (not before a first-class tour of the facility led by the Chipper Lady herself...you know, being a first time visitor and all. 'Look! We have El-LIP-tical Machines!! Look! There is a pool!! And you can sit in our hot tub after your run!!') it was 2.50pm. I had 10 miles to run in one hour and 10 minutes. There would be no sitting in the hot tub - unless this event could take place after 4pm with me naked, as I hadn't had the foresight to pack a bathing suit with my running wardrobe - duh.

My normal pace is about 9:00 min/mile. They say to run the Long Runs on Sunday about 1 min. - 1:30 min slower than your regular pace. I can't remember how exactly, but I did some math and realized that 10 miles was not going to happen. So I just went full on for the entire time, and ended up doing about 7.7 miles. When I got home I plugged those numbers into my favorite pace calculator and discovered I was pretty close to the suggested pace - about 0:49 seconds slower than my regular pace.

I would've stayed on a little longer to get to 8 miles, or maybe even 9, but the person that belonged to that excessively chipper voice? Yeah, she started losing her 'chipper-ness' around 3.45. With about 10 minutes to spare, she started walking by me, looking at me over her horned-rimmed glasses with one eye kinda bunched up. It was like she was saying to me, 'If you don't get off that treadmill and out of here, I'm going to take a crowbar to your kneecaps!'

I did my best to avoid eye contact with that lady and turned the treadmill off. I don't need anyone messing with my kneecaps right now.

support for those with tinnitus

When I began this project, I truly had no idea how many people I knew had been affected by tinnitus.

I have to confess; before I started writing here, I was under the impression that my dad was the only person that I knew with tinnitus. I figured that my mother, my children and I were unique in our experience of being the loved ones of someone suffering with tinnitus. I really did think that.

I also assumed that if someone were to actually read this blog, that this would be a whole new concept to them, this thing called 'tinnitus'. I figured they would be learning something new.

Not so, as it turns out.

I have to tell you that the number of messages I've received from friends saying they think they have tinnitus, or know someone with tinnitus has been startling.

One such message came from one of my closest friends. I had no idea! All these years that we've known one another, all the time we've spent together and it had never come up in conversation. I haven't spoken to him about it since I received his message. However, in the days that followed I have found myself thinking about him, and wondering about the severity of his suffering. I wonder how he copes. Knowing him as I do, he probably just puts one foot in front of the other and tries to ignore it. I know this is how my dad dealt with it for a while. By trying to pretend it wasn't there, and hoping it would just go away.

And you know as well as I do (from experience, for sure), that this tactic of ignoring the problem until it goes away works only with annoying co-workers and strange noises that your car makes - not tinnitus.

So, I'm posting some links here, because there is help. There is LOADS of information on tinnitus both on the web and in print.

As I had mentioned in a previous post, tinnitus is subjective and therefore it can be difficult to convey to people what you are dealing with. And I know it can be frustrating to try to relate this information to someone who has no understanding of what it is you are going through. There are piles of professionals to consult on this.

The Canadian Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Center offers support and information to its patients on the management of their tinnitus, their main focus being on Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). TRT uses noise generators such as hearing aids, white noise and recordings to train the patient to 'not' hear sounds produced by their tinnitus. The center reports that 80% of the patients who have received TRT have achieved success. My dad could probably elaborate on this topic (TRT) in a later post.

The Canadian Hearing Society may also be a good place to start, if you need support or information. There is a branch, locally in Belleville. Their contact information is here.

The Tinnitus Association of Canada is a 'registered charity, operated on a voluntary basis, with the guide of scientific advisors', based out of Toronto. They are dedicated to improving the understanding and treatment of tinnitus. The Association publishes material containing invaluable information on how people have dealt with, or are dealing with their tinnitus. I have received their package in the mail and found their exchange bulletin to be both informative and enlightening. I would strongly encourage anyone interested in receiving these documents to contact the association directly. I, personally have exchanged correspondence with Elizabeth Eayrs at the Association, who is a wealth of knowledge, and was a great help to me in planning this whole project.

As you can see, there are so many resources available, whether it is just information you're after, or if you or someone you love would benefit from talking to someone about tinnitus.

Don't pretend it's not there - do some research. Learn something about what you're going through. You're definitely not alone.

Was A Long Night

Went to bed last night with my normal "truckload" of sleeping meds inside of me. Knew within 20 minutes this was going to be night of not much sleep. Meds were not kicking in. Came back down and spent a couple of hours "snagging" a bit of Doo Wop. Hands up those of you who know what Doo Wop. Wow, that many! Anyway, back to bed at 1:00 and up 2 hours later. That's it, a whopping 2 hours of sleep.Night before was almost as bad. Change in weather pattern has a definite impact on my "T." Now I be extremely tired too and that just compounds the "T." Level of activity, give it a 9.5 out of 10. Yikes!

Gonna be a long day!

snow snow snow

ummm....it snowed.

I know you're probably more than aware of climate conditions beyond your front door. Don't get me wrong - I am too. It's just that I haven't run since Tuesday, and on Tuesday I'm pretty sure there was no snow.

Today? There is.

The sidewalks are slippery. The shoes that I own which prior to today's 'run', I would have referred to as trail shoes are now nothing more to me than a pair of skates. Skates, I tell you. Without the blades. But even without blades, these skates are still capable of gliding for several feet over a greasy surface, without any real effort from the individual wearing them. Don't ask me how I know this...

So I kept it short - about 2.5 miles. And I kept it pretty slow. Quite slow. In fact I'm not sure if what I did today would classify as 'running' insomuch as 'shuffling'. I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of a store front, and it wasn't exactly pretty.

But if it's one thing I learned today, it is that caution trumps vanity if we're talking about staying vertical when running in the snow.