E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D

SCHOOL!!!!! Holy cow, I don't think either Jordan nor myself have ever been so busy with so many things.

Jordan: applying to medical school, taking 16 credit hours at school plus, extra lab time, research twice a week, volunteering at the Road Home, volunteering for Hearts for Hospice, running XC with a meet every other week...ahh!

Melyn: taking 16 credit hours at school, 14 hours of clinical every week, studying 3 hours a day, working my business as much as possible, trying to sleep 8 hours a night, working at least once a week, trying to tie up loose ends with the wedding (grr)...

I know, I know. Jordan is SO much busier than I am, but I feel like I'm going crazy! If it literally were not for the fact that I don't do anything on Sundays besides take naps, go to church, and visit family, my mind would freak out and die.

Ranting is good. Ok, I'm done. For a while :)

Abuse

Recently, my Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing class had a discussion on abuse and its implications for human beings everywhere. I wanted to put some facts out there for people as well as some resources to help those suffering from abuse of all types: physical, emotional, neglect, and sexual.

1. Abuse crosses all barriers - gender, race, religion, socio-economic status, education. Men get abused too.

2. There is a cycle of violence. It begins with tension building, moves to the actual abuse, and then the "honeymoon" phase, where the victimizer apologizes and is extremely tender and loving toward the victim. These cycles always repeat themselves, and they always get shorter. LOVING THE VICTIMIZER IS NOT ENOUGH TO STOP THE VIOLENCE.

3. Emotional abuse is the attempt to isolate, threaten, or intimidate a person.

4. Neglect is a breach in duty of care which causes harm to others.

5. Sexual abuse is ANY unwanted sexual contact. This is regardless of whether two people are strangers, acquaintances, dating couples, OR married couples. Rape is a crime related to domination, not passion.

6. Every 15 seconds, someone is battered. Every 6.4 minutes, a sexual assault takes place. Every year, 60,000 Utah women are assaulted by their intimate partner. 28% end of these assaults end in homicide. 1 in 3 people will be abused at some point in their life. 6 million American women are beaten each year. Violence occurs on a regular basis in 10% of marriages.

7. It is estimated that over half of all violence is not reported.

8. Abuse is not the victims fault - ever. No one deserves to be treated in such a manner.

If you or someone you know is suffering from any type of abuse, please know that there is help. Your life does not have to be like this. Things can improve. Please, please, please give yourself a chance. Call a national abuse hotline at either 1.800.897.LINK or 1.800.656.HOPE

Migraines. Grr.

Today was the first time I have had a migraine since May of last year. I thought they were behind me, and what a glorious thing that would have been. Too bad my brain or blood vessels or hormones hate me. It is not really known what causes migraines, or what an effective way is to treat them. So home treatment is usually what people do, unless they want to go to the hospital to get the lovely Imitrix shot, which I thankfully have never had to recieve.

Usually about 15 minutes before I get a migraine, I get an aura. Only 15-20% of people get these auras, and they are different for every person. My auras are white spots that completely block my vision. For example, one time when I was talking to a gentleman, my aura cut off the top half of this mans body. I could not see his face or where I was looking - SLIGHTLY freaky! Auras are useful, though, because they are a warning sign to you to get home to a dark, quiet room and take some medicine. Today however, I did not get an aura.

I was helping my landlady around 0830, getting her blood sugar, blood pressure, and weight, when it came like a ton of bricks. Everything was very loud to me and I thought it was just another horrible headache, because there wasn't the aura. Oh no. I did the dishes and went to my bedroom to lay down, hoping it would go away. I lay there for about an hour. Another unpleasant side effect of migraines is extreme nausea and vomiting. That is all I will say there for people who are queasy.

I finally called the only person close enough to help me, my lovely mother-in-law Wendy. She came immediately over with some Extra Strength Excedrin (the only thing that works for me), some coke (caffeine always helps), and ice for my head. It was lovely. I slept for about two hours and when I woke up, the majority of the migraine was gone. It still hurt when I stood up and walked around. I swear I was experiencing some orthostatic hypotension (when your blood pressure plummets as you stand - not a good thing) in addition to the migraine.

These things are so debilitating. You literally cannot do anything - can't have ANY noise, ANY light, can't move, can't cry, can hardly talk - because all this will provoke it. I think mine are stress induced, and the extreme stress of school began it. Thankfully, I don't get migraines that often KNOCK ON WOOD.

Addicted to Running

I think Jordan is addicted to running. Which is by no means a bad thing! I am SO glad he has an outlet of some type to get rid of his stress from school, applying to med school, and life in general. Running is so healthy for you - in fact, I am not terribly worried about Jordan's health in the future, because he runs so often. He will wake up at 0547 (exactly, not an even number, which bothers me. oh well :) to get ready for Westminster XC. See the link at the top of this post; Jordan is on the header of the mens XC website! His coach is someone new this year, who we believe has great promise in taking both the mens and womens teams to a new level. In addition, the men have EIGHT people running! Twice as many as last year!

As exciting as this all is, I am basically rambling about Westminster's team and not Jordan's love of running. Let me get back on track.

There must be something very instinctual about running. From the time we are young, we begin running - not only to run away from someone, but to play and enjoy ourselves. There is something exhilarating about running. I once asked Jordan what makes him love running so much, and he replyed, "It is the feeling of going fast." Speeding by pedestrians is indeed very fun. Maybe we should call it "funning."

I however, do not particularly enjoy running at this point in my life. It is not "fun" to me right now. Despite this aversion I currently have, I very much used to enjoy running as a member of the Westminster Womens XC team. I am by no means good at it, I simply enjoyed that exhilarating feeling of flying past still objects. :) Reaching a goal you thought you wouldn't be able to do is very powerful. One of my favorite quotes that applies is:

My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny. - Elaine Maxwell

Maybe someday I will get back into running. I am very glad that Jordan is going to continue "as long as [his] joints hold out." I don't really know why I posted this, or if it even makes any sense. So take it as you will.