Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy Day (and sad day)

Happy St Patrick's Day! Today is the day when all of America gets to drink like you were all Irish. I guess we'll let the Canadians drink like you're irish too. So put on some green and kiss somebody just because you can!

I am actually Irish. That being in the American sense that if you have one small drop of Irish blood in you then by God we are claiming you as being Irish weather you want to or not. I'm sure there's lots of other cultures mixed into my genetic makeup. But I'm a Flynn, and there are four main branches of Flynn's in America. Mine stems from William Flynn, who came to America from County Cork in Ireland in 1842. I think he landed in Virginia, but I'm not sure about that. Since the name is still intact, that's all going back through my dad's side of the family. So I'm IRISH by God, and southern by grace.

An interesting side note since I'm on the subject of genetic lineage, going back on my Mom's side you will find a British Duke of something (born in the 1640's), and a family that used to own about 80% of Manhattan Island in the 1700's. The ownership of Manhattan Island thing resulted in a lawsuit over heirs to that family that was just settled about 10 years ago. I didn't see anything from that lawsuit, but my great-aunt did get a notice to appear in court for it.

Kelley's family has some famous connections too. We recently learned that we are related to the Jonas brothers. It's funny that they wear promise rings and be all celibate and stuff. Turns out their grandmother or maybe great grandmother got knocked up as a high school kid by some cousin to one of kelley's grandparents. So the Jonas brothers are our cousins, distantly. and maybe their family has a dirty past? hmmmmm....... Of course I have no proof of anything there, it's just something that someone in her family found and told her mom about.

UPDATE: I have been corrected. Kelley's grandmother's niece (her sister's kid) got knocked up when she was in high school. She went to florida to have the baby, the baby became a preacher, moved to New Jersey and is the father of the Jonas Brothers. So they are not so distant cousins, we might even run into them at a funeral or something. end of update.

So it's a happy day! kiss me, I'm Irish.

It's a sad day too. I had a doctor's appt yesterday to follow up from the one a few weeks ago. The blood test showed some liver enzymes that were a little out of whack, he wanted to figure out why. Turns out, they are way really high out of whack, and he was pretty concerned. I also told him about a myofacial problem I've been fighting in my left shin since maybe december. I'm 90% sure it's muscular like shin splints and not a stress fracture, he wants to be more sure than that. It might even be related to the liver thing. I take advil when it hurts and before every run as a precaution. But the shin shoud have healed up by now, so I was a little concerned.

He drew some blood for testing, he's going to check the liver enzymes and my testosterone levels. We also x-rayed the leg. I couldn't get a digital copy like Sarah did, but I still gotta admit that those bones were quite sexy. Everything looked silky smooth. But the bad news is that he still said no more advil and no more running until he clears me to run again. The leg thing could be a collection of toxins or a small clot or something that is causing the liver thing to react with elevated enzyme levels. So if the liver levels look good, we're going to do a high density bone scan to check for a stress fracture. if it's not a stress fracture, he figure it out from there. something will have to unlock the muscular "bruise" or whatever it is.

I got in that 10 mile run on saturday, it was the first double digit milage since before the taper when I missed the marathon, i think feb 3rd was the last time I had 10 miles or more. then sunday/monday I was having real trouble getting down the stairs into the office. I certainly didn't want the guy to tell me to stop running, but the shin should have healed more by now. So crap, I guess I'm just going to have to deal with it. I'm going to back off of the swim and biking some too, but keep going with the yoga and Tri Power workouts. My next race is a 60k bike ride through the North Carolina mountains in 2 weeks, so I can keep training for that without running.

Finally, something humorous. I hate people from Spartanburg county, the next county north of where I live. The local news reports today that someone in Spartanburg actually STOLE $300 worth of girl scout cookies from some kids selling in a parking lot. Police are looking for surveillance tapes now. But is the economy really that bad that rednecks have to steal from girl scouts? You can't find something better to steal than Thin Mints? They let Glaven into Spartanburg county? Once again, proof that I am surrounded by dumbasses and rednecks.

So have a great St Patty's day! We Irish consider getting drunk and having sex with strangers "an introduction". So go meet somebody new today! Have fun. And don't forget to vote for me on Steve's blog if you haven't done so already. You don't have to have a blog to vote, just follow the link and vote on the right hand side of his blog.

24 comments:

Unknown said...

Please keep us posted on what the doctor says!

RBR said...

I am Irish too my maiden name is a "Mc", but I spent too many years drinking like a true Irishman so I will just take the kisses today!

That said,

*SMOOCH*

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I am really sorry to hear about the elevated liver enzymes. Take care and do what the doctor says, you have got beautiful babies to stay healthy for!

joyRuN said...

Sorry to hear about the liver issues! Usually acetaminophen is rougher on the liver than ibuprofen. Weird...

I'm not Irish, but you are, so -

MWAH!!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

good luck with the leg, having gone through all that myself this past summer (minus the liver enzyme thing...) I know how frustrating it can be. Me and my doc thought they were shin splints, turned out to be stress fractures. Keep us posted! thanks for the permission to drink like we're Irish today too :)

Marcy said...

Ohhhhh I'm sorry to hear about the liver probs :-( Let us know what happens, k?

I can TOTALLY believe the GS cookie thing happening. So sad the times are but dang people will do ANYTHING! LOL

Amber said...

Oh that really sucks about the liver problems, hopefully everything will work out OK!

That's funny about your family heritage. I have no idea what mine is, I have redhair though, so maybe a bit of Irish! I should look into that... Haha. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Marcy said...

Dude I was totally playin! I'm Irish by default. Mr McG is the Irish one.

Anyhoo, I got the oxyosox here. $23 and there is free shipping. Everywhere else I've looked (amaxon, espn sports, footlocker) ONLY carry the XL size and that's just too big for me :-/

healthy ashley said...

Good luck with everything with the doctor. It's tough to have something wrong, so hopefully you'll be able to overcome it quickly!

I love that you know so much about your ancestry! Someone in my family killed Francis Scott Key's (the son of the famed and also my ancestor's wife's lover) son across from the White House. He was a politician and Union General in the Civil War. Ancestry is pretty cool, right?!

That's crazy people stole Girl Scout Cookies!

(I totally voted for you!)

Calyx Meredith said...

So sorry about the liver enzyme ickiness! (Advil and livers sometimes don't play nice together - maybe being off the advil will be the only thing you need?) Hope to hear good news on that front and on the running front soon!

As for ancestry - I'm scotch-irish on one side and english-welsh on the other. I should have "UK all the way" tattooed on me. My red-headed son loves St. Patty's day because he wears kelly green and looks gorgeous in it! Your Jonas brothers connection is funny. The only famous person I'm related to is Tex Cobb (who among other things - was the biker of the apocalypse in Raising Arizona) - and who also used to be my neighbor (before I knew he was a second cousin!) Strange little world we have, eh?

Adorable Girlfriend said...

Please stay safe and let us know your test results. If I can do anything, you know my where to find me.

Now go out and shake your shamrocks in a medical doctor approved way!

Missy said...

That totally blows. Sorry to hear about it BUT good that they saw it and didn't blow it off - take two and see me in the morning. Puts a damper on things, though.

Amy - the gazelle said...

I am not Irish at all - it's one of the few ethnic backgrounds that didn't make it's way in :)

Please keep us up-to-date on the doc visit - sorry about the no run thing, but it's better to be safe, right?

Sending you happy healthy thoughts.

Wes said...

Awww man! I hope they figure out what's going on and fix it quick like. You'd think with a last name like mine that I'd be Irish too. Well, I'm not. Seems Irish were more popular than Scots, so my family dropped the a out of the Mac to make us sound Irish. LOL..

and no, I'm not going to kiss you, Irish or not. I'd have to lick my dog's arse to get the bad taste out of my mouth ;-)

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

You're Irish? Hey, guess what? So is my @$$hole, so KISS THAT!1!

Sucks about the liver stuff. Definitely back off the running, as the doctor says. That stuff's no joke.

You're not last anymore in your contest. Must be a lot of pole smokers out there identifying with you.

Sara Cox Landolt said...

Thanks for the compliment on my blog post on Steve/Speedo's blog.

I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Good luck in the contest!

Jess said...

Good luck with all the doc. stuff! Hope you can get back to running soon!

rolf said...

Hope things work out well with the Dr. You got my vote!

Sarah said...

Oh man - clot?? that's horrid!! As for my pic - I snuck it with my camera when all the doctors were out of the room :) Don't leave me unsupervised anywhere. . . I get what I want!

Michelle said...

hmmm,,,I may have been Irish at some point in my life!

That totally sucks about not being able to run. I hope you have a speedy recover and the liver labs turn out to be a fluke.

Sun Runner said...

My great-grandfather was an Irish immigrant. My great-grandmother was the daughter of another Irish immigrant. I guess that makes my grandmother...75% Irish? Whatever. I'm a Dutchwoman at heart. I'm at home in the nether regions.

I hope your medical issues resolve quickly and satisfactorily. I hate having things be wrong with me when I make such an effort to be fit and healthy. I'm like, "Um, body, get with the fucking PROGRAM here!"

Sláinte!

Christine said...

I may have been the one to steal the girl scout cookies :) Sometimes I accidentally forget my dreams are reality haha..jk! Hope the leg heals quick and you are cleared to run :)

Adorable Girlfriend said...

p.s. I voted for you! :)

under my own steam said...

Dude - I'm sending the kind of mojo that makes liver enzymes do what they're supposed to do and shins do what they're supposed to do.

And, hey, my biological mother went to Florida to have me too (it's a complicated story). Weird. Maybe I'm cousins with the Jonas Brothers too!

carrie said...

Do what the doctor says! Good luck. (And you got my vote)