I So Didn't Even Want To Eat That Snickers Bar

And really, how often in life do you say that statement? Snickers are one of the few candies I actually will eat, and I don't think I'd had one since Halloween. I ate it this morning though, and it was almost torture to eat it. What a waste.

The good news is that it was completely worth it. (You're scratching your heads now, aren't you?)

See, Manic Mommy is having a virtual blood drive. This is the third year she's done it, and I think it's pretty awesome of her. She's encouraging people to donate blood, which is worthwhile all on its own. As an added inducement, she's gotten prizes donated for those people who donate blood from January 1 to February 28 and email her picture proof of the donation. For more details, read here.

I've participated the last two years that she's held it, since I'm a regular blood donor already. And no, I haven't won any prizes (yet!). I have two main reasons that I donate blood.

When my grandfather was ill before he died, he used gallons of blood. While the transfusions kept him alive, nothing was enough to return him to health - but without donations, no one has a chance. He was a regular blood donor, but I don't think even his massive quantities of blood made up for what he used. I'm helping to replenish what he needed.

I also have O negative blood, which is the universal donor. When there is an emergency and they don't have time to type someone's blood, O neg is what they need to use, so it's most in demand, as well as being in the veins of something like four percent of the population. As a regular donor, they like my good clean O neg, and it is bagged separately for use with babies who need it. Seeing that neonatal sticker on my blood each time and knowing that I'm able to give hope to families who otherwise wouldn't have it - there's no way I'm going to stop donating.

So did you notice that today is February 26 and the contest started January 1?

Yeah... me, too. Sadly, I'm not posting this now because I managed to donate twice in the timeframe (which is doable, every eight weeks get back out there!).

I tried donating early in January but was declined because my iron was low. Then I got sick. Then I was busy with work. My iron was low again. Work. I went to Florida for Disney's Social Media Moms conference. Work. I got sick. Work.

I knew that today was my last chance, so I've been preparing all week. Somehow, I needed to get my iron up to where it normally is. Until December, I'd been donating every eight weeks or so for years.

When I've donated before, their suggestions for getting your iron up were to eat chocolate covered raisins and Snickers bars. So yep, that's what I ate for breakfast. Of course, I didn't actually have chocolate covered raisins, but I did have raisins and chocolate chips, so I had a nice half cup of that. And then the Snickers bar that I ate on my way to the donation. That much chocolate that early in the morning is not fun. Apparently, I'm no longer eighteen, as I think at some point that would have appealed to me.

When I got there, they offered to test my iron for me before doing the rest of the paperwork to avoid wasting time for both of us. As I sat down, I asked how long it takes for the iron to metabolize. Oh, two to three hours, she told me. Great. So that junk I just ate to get my iron up within the last hour wasn't even going to make a difference. Whee.

She stuck my fingers for the sample and put it into the neat-o machine that gives the iron readings. Annnnnd... 14.8. For me, that's super high. And well above the 12.5 needed (I usually hover in the high 12s and low 13s). Yay, I could donate blood!

Apparently it was the quinoa and spinach that I had for dinner last night. Go fig. And yes, I will be posting the "recipe" for this, since even the wee ones ate it and loved it - to the point that Mister Man asked if he could have spinach and quinoa for breakfast this morning.

So how about you? Have you donated blood lately? Can you go donate blood still for Manic?

How To Scare The C#@p Out Of Yourself

Step A: Donate blood.

Now, I don't mean that donating blood is scary or that it's bad. I do it on a regular basis, and I encourage all of you to do the same. In fact, when I donated on Tuesday, I got a gift card for a free quart of Oberweis ice cream and a really nice barbeque set that included an apron, salt and pepper shakers, an oven mitt, tongs, and a grill cleaner because I'm a member of the four seasons club (donate once each season at least).

Step B:

Do a spin class the next day.

I joined a gym back at the end of May so that I would have somewhere to run as it got beastly hot in Chicago (those of us who don't really sweat can't run outside in summer). As an added bonus, my gym has some neat features including super cheap swim lessons for the wee ones, as well as the pool, and some totally cool classes.

In fact, I no longer do yoga elsewhere because I can do my yoga for "free" at the gym. And I can also do my belly dancing classes there.

Last night when I went to the gym, I forgot my iPod because it was still in my backpack that I'd taken to Vegas. Except I just remembered that I'd moved it into the console of my car in case I wanted to listen to any music on the way to or from Minnesota. If only I'd known that then....

I can't run without my iPod. I hate running enough as it is (and since it's been awhile since I've run due to other commitments, I figured I'd really need it), and without my iPod it's just not happening. Lucky for me, there was a spin class starting at 6pm, and it just so happened to be 5:43.

I've been talking about trying out spinning for awhile now (and Melisa will be proud of me, I think, that I went). However, I don't know if I can ever go back. Not because I don't want to try it again, but because I'm not sure I can face the people in the class.

I got there a bit early so that the teacher could show me how to set up my bike (as instructed by Melisa). No teacher. One person was pedaling slowly on a bike, so I confirmed that yes, there was a class there at 6. A second person walked in and volunteered to get me set up. Yay!

The instructor walked in and we got going. Well started the class anyway, as everyone else had been pedaling slowly waiting for it to begin.

It was actually not so bad. It's been awhile since I rode my bike, but I could do this. Then we stood up to pedal, which wasn't so fun but I did it. We sat down and sprinted, and I did it. I surreptitiously reduced my tension when we were supposed to increase it the next time, and we did two more rounds of standing and sitting.

We stood the next time, and I decided to sit. Then the room, which was already in very low light, started to go dark. Uh-oh. My ears started ringing. Big uh-oh. I slowed wayyyyy down. The room went totally dark, and I prayed that I wouldn't pass out.

I continued pedaling as slowly as I could, hoping that this would pass. I realized that this was not passing quickly and quickly (by my standards at the time) deduced that this was because I was not getting oxygen for some reason. Which would explain why I had started yawning repeatedly a few minutes before even though I wasn't tired.

I decided that I needed to take a break, and I was paranoid that I was going to pass out on the bike and fall over and hurt and/or embarrass myself. I took a few deep breaths and the room came into enough focus that it looked like the Charles Schwab commercials where people are cartoons but not really (I now know where the ad exec got the idea for the concept). I slowly eased my feet out of the pedals and stood next to the bike, grasping it for dear life.

Standing actually made things worse, but there was no way that I could either climb back on the bike or walk out of the room, so I just held on. The room went black again. And my ears started to hurt. You've seen the commercials where cartoon animals have steam coming out of their ears, right? I totally get that now. I thought my head was going to explode out my ears from all the pressure.

Eventually, the instructor walked around to each of us -- fortunately only six of us in the class tonight -- to see how we're doing. I didn't know he was there until he touched my arm. I think I told him that I would be ok, but I'm not really sure what I said or what he asked.

It took almost ten minutes before the room was not fully black and was at least back to the funky cartoon people. I bent over to pick up my towel that had fallen and felt slightly better. That's when I realized that sitting on the couch in the locker room with my head between my knees would probably be a good idea.

I did manage to get to the locker room and put my head down. Fortunately the couches are tucked into a corner. My vision and hearing cleared eventually, but the pressure in my ears and headache did not. And I just felt off after twenty-five minutes.

I realized that I eventually needed to get home and moved over to the bench by my locker. That's about when I got the flop sweat and goosebumps on my arms. Yeah, I was really starting to freak myself out right about then, but at least I wasn't dizzy anymore.

When I got to my car (literally fifty minutes after I had left the class), I called my husband and had him talk to me the whole way home to ensure my brain stayed active and if I crashed someone would know immediately. Looking back, it would have been smarter to have someone pick me up and take me home, but apparently when your brain is deprived of oxygen, thinking isn't its strong suit.

The good news is...

before I went to the spin class, I found Little Miss's missing swimsuit bottom that I had left in the swimsuit dryer spinner thing Tuesday after swim lessons AND

I learned that you're not supposed to exercise after donating blood because the nice blood cells that carry oxygen to your body -- brain included -- haven't fully regenerated and can't supply your heart and muscles and brain if you do it too soon. I wasn't actually having a stroke, and yes, I was paranoid enough to think that for a short while.

After my inelegant exit from class after participating for twenty minutes and standing by my bike like a moron for ten minutes and then weaving my way out of the room, I don't think I can ever go back there and do a spinning class again.

So hey -- go donate blood. It's yet another great excuse to avoid exercise!

They Don't Want Me!

I’m so bummed. I donate blood every 8 weeks, making my appointment for the next donation as I’m munching on the cookies the nice people at Heartland Blood Center so generously provide.

This is my 8 week appointment, and since I usually go right after yoga, I had a 9:50am appointment. However, there was no yoga today due to a conflict on my instructor’s part, which actually worked out well. A local elementary school had a huge rummage sale today, and they volunteered to share the profits with Mister Man’s preschool and another local elementary if parents from the two schools pitched in with volunteers.

Peachy! I rescheduled my blood donation to the earliest available appointment, at 8:10. I was still going to miss the opening of the rummage sale, but I’d be there by 9:30 – since the school is 15 minutes south of me while the blood center is about 20 minutes northwest of me.

I showed up right at 8:10 on the dot, yay me! And it wasn’t too busy, which is unusual for a Saturday morning. I filled out my paperwork and read my educational materials. At that point, I realized my temperature was going to be very low because I’d been drinking water in the car, but I figured I could explain that upfront and have it not be an issue.

I actually briefly thought about deferring. I didn’t feel sick at all, but I was slightly sniffly. While I was 99% sure it was due to allergies, I’m a neo-natal donor (O Negative blood is all they’ll give to newborns and for good reason!). The immune systems of those babies are especially delicate, but I pretty much knew I was fine, and if for some reason I felt at all off over the next couple of days, I can call and ask them to toss the blood.

The nice lady was pretty much immediately ready for me, and we headed into the little room for our chat. She checked over my paperwork and verified that I’d indeed read the educational materials. She handed over the little thermometer, and I explained about my water issue. No problem.

Then she starts taking my pulse. Up next is the blood pressure, which in a twisted way is my favorite part. I tend to have low blood pressure, and I always try to see if I can beat my last score. Last time it was 96/58.

As I was thinking about this, the pulse check continued. Finally, she looked up and asked me if I’d had a lot of caffeine this morning. Curious, but sensing that something was unusual, as I’d never had this question before, I explained that I – horror of horrors – don’t like coffee and don’t drink anything with caffeine.

She hmmm’ed. Uh-oh. I figured that for some reason my pulse was racing, which was a bit of a surprise. Then she explained that my pulse was skipping, and that they have a new order in the last two weeks that anyone with a pulse that skips has to be deferred. She tried it again, but apparently my pulse skipped again, so I have to wait 24 hours to donate. Which is Sunday when they’re closed. Which means I am now rescheduled for next Saturday.

Per the nurse, this is sometimes a fluke thing where your pulse skips but the next day, it’s fine. She assured me that most likely it’s nothing to worry about. So now the debate starts – do I google skipping pulse and see what horrors await me in the 0.005% chance that whatever I discover applies to me or wait until next Saturday to see if my pulse has stopped skipping?

The only good news is that I was able to get to the rummage sale by 8:45, and they definitely needed my help. They sold tons of stuff (probably literally) by the time we closed at 4. Amazingly though, there was still so much stuff left that hadn’t sold – including some really nice stuff, which is a shame. Fortunately, they have arrangements with charities to take what doesn’t sell (with the exception of things that should have been thrown away in the first place by the people who donated them). Quick PSA: when donating something, if you wouldn’t give it to your best friend because it’s too gross/broken/out of date/torn/stained, please don’t donate it to charity!

I won’t know until next week how much the rummage sale made, nor our split, but between the Cinco de Mayo event and the rummage sale proceeds, our PTO definitely will have some funds to start off our year right.

Plus, a woman I was talking to at the rummage sale has a brother who can most likely donate ice cream for our school if we do a back to school picnic (which I have my eye on doing as a way to build more of a community).

Oh yeah… and the wee ones are back safely from Florida! They had a great time and told me all about the purple and rainbow slides that they loved and the Shamu jumps they saw and the belly splashers they did. Then they crashed. At least they know that tomorrow is Mother’s Day and they they’re supposed to be quiet when they wake up. We’ll see if that really happens though!