Mommin' It Up!

August 3, 2012

Who doesn’t need a little Spark & Hustle?

Back in May when Emily and I attended Mom 2.0 Summit, we met a tall, beautiful lady named Rachel,of Back’nGroove Mom.

After she endeared herself to us and captured our undying affection, she started talking non-stop about something called Spark & Hustle. “Spark & Hustle this, Spark & Hustle THAT”! I didn’t even know what it was! Turns out, Spark & Hustle is a conference for women in small business, and it is making a tour this summer. At first I thought it was just a ploy she was using to get us to come visit her in her hometown of Pittsburgh, but Rachel is actually very involved with Spark & Hustle! Over time and some charming text messages, she convinced me to attend the conference in Pittsburgh coming up on August 9th. (Emily can’t come because she’s going on vacation. LAME.)

I am super-excited to learn more from Tory Johnson, the founder of Spark & Hustle, about doing a better job in small business – which believe it or not, is what this blog has turned into for Emily and me. I am super-excited that my BFF Luanne is going to attend to get some great ideas and inspiration for her small business, Lulee’s Lollies.

I’m also totally jazzed that I have a generous sponsor – Intel!!! – who I’m proud to represent! I am so grateful to Intel for their support of women in small business. Their technologies make SO many small businesses across the world possible! I’m taking with me a Lenovo Edge ThinkPad loaded with some great small business features that I know will be a great help as Emily and I forge ahead with Mommin’ It Up.

If you’re anywhere near Pittsburgh, (it’s a 4.5 hour drive for us from here, not bad at all!) I hope you’ll consider joining us at Spark & Hustle on August 9th. The tickets are really reasonably priced and the information is going to be priceLESS! I can’t wait! You can get more info at the website here.

I’ll report back after my trip!

August 2, 2012

Just as I suspected.

As you all suggested, I went to see a real doctor regarding my thyroid.

And just as I suspected, everything came back perfectly normal.

Whee! Nothing is wrong with me!

Oh wait, I still feel like crap.

And I am still 100 percent convinced that my endocrine system is to blame. Shockingly, I have become ~~extremely~~ somewhat obsessed with researching this on the internet. My favorite site is called StoptheThyroidMadness.com. It’s chock full of reasons why diagnosing thyroid issues isn’t as easy as relying on a blood test.

Just for a second, pretend you’re interested in what I’m saying and read this quote from WomentoWomen.com:

In publishing new clinical guidelines in 2002, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists fairly dramatically formalized a reversal of its previous doctrine, establishing a narrower “normal” TSH margin of 0.3–3.04. At Women to Women, we have used the TSH thyroid test for many years as a screener. And in our view, a woman’s TSH level should ideally be less than 2.0, but she should also be thriving and free from hypothyroidism symptoms. If she reports symptoms, or shows a TSH level greater than 2.0, she may have subclinical or clinical hypothyroidism.

So let’s recap – 3.04 is technically the upper limit of the normal range, but in their opinion, the level should be less than two. Mine is 2.9. Perfectly normal? Or causing the 18 thyroid-related symptoms I exhibit?

My doctor recommends a shot of B12, which did come back low on the blood test, and a sleep study. She probably has a point there, as I had one probably 10 years ago that came back inconclusive. My sister has narcolepsy and my dad and Jenny’s mom (and dad too, but we’re not genetically related. I don’t think. But in our families, it’s always a possibility) have sleep apnea. And since I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than sleep, it’s safe to say there might be something going on there.

But, I feel compelled to continue to pursue my other symptoms, too, which are at the least mimicking hypothyroidism.

Any experience, advice or suggestions? I’d love to hear them. (This means you, Dr. Almost-Cousin Mackenzie.)

August 1, 2012July 26, 2012

Pin For the Wednesday: Summery Fruit Punch

Welcome to Pin for the Wednesdays!

As Emily mentioned, a few weeks ago we threw a baby shower and I was in charge of beverages. Very important! Naturally, I went to Pinterest to find a good punch recipe. And there were lots to choose from, but in the end I went with this one:

fruit punch — Photo by ItsJoelen on Flickr, from the original pin

And it….was…delicious! I was skeptical because it called for ginger ale and I dislike ginger ale. However, that mixed with pineapple juice and cranberry juice cocktail and slices of lime and orange…mmm!! Couldn’t have been any tastier. Well, maybe it could’ve. The recipe called for orange juice, too, but I was a dummy and left the orange juice at home. However, the punch was still amazing – light, refreshing, sweet but not tart – it was everything you want a summer punch to be. I was rather pleased with this pin!

That’s my winning pin for this week! What have you been pinning and putting into practice? Let us know and leave your links below! Don’t forget to link to your original pin and back here to this post. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got!