Every Life Matters

The police have become a main focus in the media lately. Both for good and bad reasons, but mainly the bad. I find myself constantly coming to the defense of the police. Do I think there are bad cops out there, heck yes. Just like there are bad people in all walks of life. But overall the police are not bad people. They go places, see things and handle situations that most people never have to do. They are put in situations daily that could keep them from going home at the end of their shift. They go into work everyday knowing that what they do is not appreciated by most and that on top of all the regular things they face they may come into contact with someone pissed off at them because of something some cop in some other state has done. And this has been made even more obvious by the killing of the two cops in Mississippi last weekend. Every life matters.
Now I am hearing that some police departments are offering bias training. I'm not sure if it is mandatory..yet. But it is out there. Not just for police departments but for any type of work environment, apparently. I am afraid this has the potential to hurt, not help situations. Some people have biased towards cops, is there going to be training so people aren't biased against them? Because unless that happens nothing is going to change.
 I have seen interviews where people say they are afraid of cops and for some reason think that's a bad thing. Cops are an authority figure and if they are doing their job right there should be a healthy fear of them. Just like teachers, parents, or anyone in authority. I'm afraid of cops too. But mainly because every time I have encountered them it was because I was doing something wrong. Just last year I was pulled over for speeding. This cop was so nasty to me. I was telling one person the story and then I said I was going 80 in a 60mph zone. The person laughed and said well maybe that's why he was so mad. I thought about it and said, good point. Of course people will say I am a white woman so I don't truly understand. And they may be right. Sometimes though I think people need to step out of the box and look at things with a clear eye. Maybe even think what could I have done to make the situation different.
I was recently watching the testimony of several of the cops who were first on the scene at the theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. The shooting that happened almost three years ago during the superman movie. The prosecutor asked each one of them what the scene was like when they got to the theater, what they saw and encountered. Each one of them got choked up and you could hear in their voices that they were experiencing that scene all over again. It was heartbreaking. All first responders have a job to do that most would not, could not do.
Some people think we shouldn't have any cops at all. Some people think they should all be run by the federal government. I think they should just fix the problems they have and that people need to start taking responsibility for themselves before the government decides that they are going to do it for us. And then we will all be screwed!

Religious Freedom and Restoration Act

The other day the House of Representatives in Michigan passed a bill called the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act. I first saw word posted about this on Facebook and the article that went along with it had me in shock. I was just as upset as everyone I saw posting about it. I had a whole blog planned in my head of what I wanted to say, but I thought maybe I should get some information for myself first. What I found was that, this bill had become law and the law was that paramedics could deny medical care to gay people.  I did a little bit of research and came across a message board of people talking about this topic. Several people were in an uproar, as was I. This bill sounded absolutely ridiculous to me, how in the world could you deny someone the right to medical care just because you didn't agree with their lifestyle. I did some more research. First of all this is not law, this still needs to pass the Senate and then signed by the Governor. Next the bill doesn't allow paramedics the right to deny medical care to homosexuals. This bill is apparently supposed to be more geared towards religious freedom. From snopes.com: 

According to the text of that bill, a person who acted contrary to Michigan law because doing otherwise would burden that person's exercise of religion could use the provisions of the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act as a defense in a criminal or civil case resulting from his actions (or inaction):

A person whose religious exercise has been burdened in violation of this section may assert that violation as a claim or defense in any judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain appropriate relief, including equitable relief, against government.
A court or tribunal may award all or a portion of the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney fees, to a person who prevails against government under this section.
For example, under the Religious Freedom law, a pharmacist could refuse to fill a doctor's prescription for birth control, or HIV medication. An emergency room physician or EMT could refuse service to a gay person in need of immediate treatment. A school teacher could refuse to mentor the children of a same-sex couple, and a DMV clerk could refuse to give a driver's license to a person who is divorced.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/michiganmedical.asp#ajUl4p4mF3BoBCsH.99

Nothing in the RFRA specifically exempts all medical personnel from providing emergency treatment to gay patients; the claim that medical personnel could opt out of providing emergency treatment to gay patients on the grounds of religious objection is one of the hypothetical scenarios opponents have posed as what might come to pass if the RFRA were enacted:


The house bill can be read here: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2013-2014/billengrossed/House/pdf/2014-HEBH-5958.pdf

If the bill becomes law I am pretty sure people will take advantage of it. Twist and turn the words to fit their prejudices in someway. I also think people should have freedom to practice their religious beliefs, as long as they aren't hurting anyone. I thought we already had a right to religious freedom in this country anyway. 

Jackie

Essure Sucks!

And I will tell you why:  I was on the depo shot for ten years. My hubby and I decided that I needed to change when I kept getting severe migraines from the shot. I decided on the Essure. My doctor told me that it was a simple procedure performed in the office under general anesthesia. I figured it would be better than having a tubal ligation because I wouldn't have to go to the hospital and deal with all that. For some reason I was under the impression that I would have to take more time off work if I had a tubal, rather than just one day. Anyway I scheduled the Essure procedure for June 27th,which was a Friday. The morning of I went in and I remember the doctor telling me that I would be "good as new" in 24 hours. She said I might have some bleeding, but other than that I would be fine. The procedure lasted about 30-45 minutes. I was completely out. When I came to my husband took me home. I was pretty groggy most of the day Saturday, and on Sunday I was not "good as new". I kept on thinking there was something wrong with me because I should have been "good as new".

Monday I went to work feeling like I had been run over by a truck. That night the bleeding started and continued for about 2 1/2 weeks. also that night I decided to google Essure. Why I didn't google them beforehand I still do not know and I am still kicking myself for not doing it to this day. I came upon a Facebook group called Essure Problems and discovered that there are tons of woman having problems with Essure. 

After about a week, I called my doctor and told them that I wanted them out ASAP. They scheduled an appointment. At first she just put me on a course of antibiotics saying that maybe I just had an infection from the insertion, there was no change after the antibiotics. Then she scheduled a CT scan, which really didn't show anything. 

When I went in for my appointment after the scan she asked me if I had problems wearing cheap jewelry. When I told her yes, she told me that Essure had nickel in it, and that the FDA used to require a nickel allergy test be done prior to having the Essure procedure done but that 3 years ago they stopped requiring it. She said that due to my reaction to cheap jewelry she thinks I must be allergic to Essure and she will remove them. My surgery was scheduled for August 26th. On August 26th I had a bilateral salpingectomy, which is the removal of both fallopian tubes (the essure coils are in the tubes). I was off work for 5 days.Three months later, I'm still not "good as new".. so guess what. Essure sucks! 

There are now over 12,000 people in the Essure Problems group on Facebook. Not all of them have problems, some of them have joined just in case they do develop problems, some have joined to offer support, some are spouses of women that have problems. But a huge majority of that number have problems. The makers of Essure claim this product is safe, effective and will prevent pregnancy yet a good number of people in the group have gotten pregnant as well. Aside from the bleeding, there is pain, hair loss, fatigue, depression and a number of other problems I can't think of at the moment. And because of FDA preemption none of us can sue either. 

**Update: Went to the doctor today 12/8/14: She gave me a couple of options to deal with the continuing issues: Go back on birth control. She said that would help control the periods, but I would still have the pain in between them. I could have burning of the uterine lining done which could possibly get rid of the periods but not necessarily the pain or a hysterectomy. Her and I both thought the hysterectomy was the best bet. Surgery is scheduled for 1/13/15. 

Starting over...again

My husband has been encouraging me to put my thoughts in a blog. I have had this blog for several years. I first used it to display my crafting, knitting, scrapbooking, etc. Then last year I decided to turn it into a running blog, but a few weeks after I did that I got into a car accident. It wasn't that bad, but I hurt my neck and running was put on hold. Then I had a medical procedure done this year, which I will talk about later, that has put running even further on hold. So I have decided to redo this blog again. I really hope that I am now able to entice people to follow my blog and maintain the interest of my readers.

Motivation

Chicago Marathon Final

How amazing is the story of the man with a form of muscular dystrophy that finish the Chicago Marathon. When he finished he said "Because I can do it! That's the point. If you can do something, you discover you can do it, and then you have to do it," Melamed said. Last week I found out that my junior high principal passed away. Several of my friends on facebook that attended that school either with me, before me or after me shared the link to his obituary. The one thing that all of us said was "If you believe you will achieve." That was something Mr. Hart said to us every morning during the announcements. Most of us probably forgot those words until the moment we saw he had died but the fact that we still remembered after 25+ years, I think, means a lot. One of the main reasons is that I think we all knew that Mr. Hart wasn't just saying those words to say them. He really believed them and wanted us to believe them too. Now after finishing the half marathon I believe those words are true. I remember starting to struggle at mile 9, wanting to give up and just walk the rest of the way. Shoot wanting to just walk off the course completely. But I would push those words back down and once I realize I wasn't going to make the goal I had set in my head, I set another goal. I stopped letting myself get stressed every time someone passed me, reminding myself instead of all the people I had already passed. I will make my goal the next time. If you believe you will achieve!

Jackie

WALKING DEAD and other less important crap. BUT MAINLY WALKING DEAD!

Walking Dead is back!!! WOOOHOOO!!!!! Aside from that, running related I plan to run two miles every day this week! Crafting wise, I actually used my Cricut today. My daughter has a school assignment due on Thursday. Its a project about Pandas. I started up the Cricut and cut out the words we needed to put together the tri board. I will have pictures some times this week. It looks really good so far. Hubby went to the gym today and ran a 5K on the treadmill, he did it in a little over 26 minutes, he said that last tenth of a mile kicked his butt! I swear that last tenth feels like forever especially when you are watching that little red light blink and blink and blink.

Jackie

Saturday Snacks

Snacks! I love snacks! I love food! Which is one of my problems. I started losing weight in 2005 mainly due to running. I was approximately 40 pounds heavier than I am now. Over the past eight years one thing has been consistent, between October and February of the next year I put weight back on, thankfully not the 40 pounds but anyhwere between ten and twenty pounds and then February/ March rolls around and I get mad and work on losing it again. I am tired of the roller coaster. One of the biggest reasons for the roller coaster is food but its also lack of exercise. Between the shorter days, kids school work, house/family stuff not to mention the holidays I just give up on watching what I eat and exercise. My goal this year is to not do it again. One thing I plan on doing is running more, I have signed up and/or plan to sign up for races to guarantee that I stay focused on fitness. So the next thing I need to watch is food consumption. I am on Pinterest and search it almost on a daily basis for healthy family dinner recipes that taste good and that aren't heavy in calories or other bad crap. So that leaves snacking! I try to find yummy quick to grab snacks that satisfy the sweet tooth, or salt tooth or whatever! One thing I found are Dole Banana Dippers with Almonds
http://www.dole.com/Products/Banana-Dippers/Banana-Dippers-with-Almonds. I get them at Walmart they are so yummy and you still get the satisfaction of frozen yummy goodness, like ice cream! Just on a side note I am putting this out there, my goal is to be the same weight I am today on Christmas day. This may sound odd to some people but like I said I have had issues for the past 8 years of roller coaster weight, so maybe putting it in writing will make it more concrete in my mind and make it easier for me to stick to it. Plus I am competitive too, so this a challenge to myself to not gain weight! LOL! :)
Jackie

These are just my own opinions!

Motivation

I just saw this meme on facebook (Distant Runners).This is so true. Three months ago I had no idea I would be able to run a half marathon. It wasn't until about three weeks ago my husband and I had gone out for a run. He was going to do ten and I was going to do my first 12 miles. I led and was able to pretty much maintain 9 minute 30 second miles. When he stopped at ten miles (his longest run) he made a comment about how he did pretty good for not having trained. When I finished we were discussing the run and he admitted that me leading helped to keep him going but that it was a bit rough maintaining that speed for so long and that's when it dawned on me. It was the training! I had not realized until that moment the affect that the training had on me. I will never doubt training again! 

Jackie

Friday Fun Facts

Courtesy of:    http://blog.runningwarehouse.com/running-sport/trivia-time-25-fun-running-facts/

1. The average men’s finishing time in U.S. marathons is 4:26.
2. The average women’s finishing time in U.S. marathons is 4:52.
3. 57% of runners purchase at least two pairs of running shoes each year.
4. Four-time Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers’ favorite pizza topping is mayonnaise. Yep, mayo. (((EWWW and I love pizza))))
5. In 1990, only 25% of road race finishers in the US were women. Now the ladies make up more than half of road race finishers in the US.
6. Speaking of ladies and gents: many studies show that couples who run together also do…um… other things together more frequently as well. We’ll leave it up to you to guess the activity.
7. If that fun fact doesn’t light your fire, how about this one: your feet can produce a pint of sweat each day.
8. Speaking of bodily fluids, when we run, our hearts create enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet.
9. The first New York City Marathon was held in 1970, when 127 runners paid one dollar each to run a few loops through Central Park. Fewer than half of the entrants finished. ((wow only $1))
10. You can store about 2,000 calories’ worth of glycogen in your body to fuel your running. But it’s important to replenish your stores, so chow down on the carbs post-run.
11. Fauja Singh is the oldest person to ever complete a full marathon, finishing the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2011 at the age of 100. So no, you’re probably not ‘too old to run.’ ((WOW))
12. On the other end of the spectrum, the world’s youngest marathoner is Budhia Singh, who has completed a staggering 48 marathons before turning 5. Bet he’s a hit on the playground.
13. Will Ferrell ran the ’03 Boston Marathon in 3:56:12. We don’t know how to put this…he’s kind of a big deal. 
14. The world record for a mile by a race horse is 1:32.1. Hay! That’s fast.
15. The cheetah is considered the fastest land animal. It can achieve speeds upwards of 70 miles per hour. The garden snail is considered the slowest land animal with a speed of only .03 miles per hour.
16. Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4:00 mile, but an exact 4:00.00 was first achieved over 4 years later on September 3, 1958 by England’s Derek Ibbotson in a 4th place finish behind Herb Elliott at White City. That’s a whole lot of 4′s! (((I wonder if he played the lottery)))
17. Over 1 billion pairs of running shoes are sold worldwide every year. ((((Does not surprise me considering how many shoes we can go through)))
18. When running the 100 meters, Usain Bolt hits a maximum power output of 2619.5 watts, or about 3.5 horsepower. Just enough to blend yourself a nice, cold margarita.
19. During a 90 minute soccer match, elite-level players will often run 7 miles or more, depending on position.
20. Kara Goucher’s favorite indulgence according to Kara Goucher is “blond brownies as big as my face.” Okay, Kara Goucher.
21. Steve Prefontaine never won an Olympic medal.
22. Also Pre-lated: Blue Ribbon Sports, known today as Nike, was founded on Prefontaine’s birthday, January 25th.
23. Justin Timberlake would approve of this one: The world record for the fastest marathon while wearing a suit and tie goes to Adam Campbell who ran a 2:35 is 2012. No word on whether running apparel manufacturers have any plans to produce high performance running suits as of now.
24. Think running in a suit is weird? A certain Vinny O’neill has earned himself a reputation for running marathons in a full on rhinoceros costume. His fastest while donning the horns: 4:17:27. (((Weird)))
25. And for the single most coveted running-related world record: one Josh Harris’ 5:04 beer mile, completed with four bottles of Cooper’s, including one with a stubborn cap.

Jackie