On the morning of May 6, my running guide/driver Kim picked me up at 6 AM. During the half hour drive, we talked about all sorts of great stuff, like how we need time for our bodies to wake up before a long run, and how it’s so important to make sure you poop. I hadn’t pooped yet. All I could think about was that I was to run 13.1 miles and I hadn’t pooped yet. My apologies if this is too much information.

This morning, while I was on the toilet, my running guide texted me that she was outside. I texted back, “Pooping. Be out in a few. Sorry if that’s TMI.”

During that drive to the half marathon last May, Kim told me about a podcast I might really enjoy. This podcast is hosted by two mom runners. This podcast talks about all sorts of stuff from running, to gear, to balancing kids, to diet, to even pooping and breast feeding schedules.

I haven’t been much of a podcast person. I enjoy spending way too much time on Facebook, reading blogs, books, and turning on my audiobooks on the Bluetooth speaker while I’m doing chores around the house for entertainment.

I guess I’m into Podcasts now thanks to the discovery of this one.

This one is called, “another mother runner.”

If I knew how to insert hyperlinks from my phone, then you could just click on, “another mother runner,” it would take you straight there.

Since I’m not willing to dedicate the time to learn something new. Since I don’t have any working Wi-Fi in my house and don’t feel like tethering my phone to my computer to hop on it’s hotspot, you’ll just need to google up, “another mother runner,” to find the podcast for yourself.

Me, I’m going to finish this glass of wine. I’ll make sure the kids have brushed and floss their teeth. Finally, I’ll enjoy a good nights sleep, because I am just another mother runner who woke up at 4 AM to get in a 6 mile run before my kids woke up.

I am just another mother runner who has found my Zen through running.

I am just another mother runner juggling a crazy hectic schedule, a marathon training plan, kids, a husband who is just slightly on the OCD side of keeping a clean house, I am just another mother runner who feels great after getting in a good long run.

I am just another mother runner who happens to be blind.

Did you know?

Blind Mom in the Burbs is on Instagram!

Follow me for more photos and updates, especially now, as I am on week three of my Rupp & Roll Marathon Training. #ForTheLoveOfRunning

Check out my photo after a super fun 6 mile run with my friend Ana this morning.

https://www.instagram.com/blindmomintheburbs/

I started this journey last December when I met John Sterling for our first Achilles Las Vegas run. He asked me what my goals were for running, and I said, “ I want to run the Las Vegas rock and roll marathon.”

In order for these next few months to be a success, I will need an entire team supporting me. I will need running guides, drivers, and childcare to help me get across the finish line on November 11.

How do I intend on making this happen? I have created a Facebook group called, “Rupp & Roll Marathon Training Team.”

https://m.facebook.com/groups/233497340607868

I invite you to follow me on my journey as I conquer this incredible goal. Whether you are a local runner in Las Vegas and would like to share a few miles or twenty, as part of my training. Whether you are cheering me on as I run 26.2 miles up, around,and down the Las Vegas Strip. Whether you are there in person to catch me as I cross that finish line. Whether you can join the team by volunteering as a guide, watch my kids, or Driver. I can use all the support, kudos on Strava, and cheers via social media these next 14 weeks.

My husband and I wrote this article in the 2017 Edition of Future Reflections. Future Reflections is a publication produced by the National Federation of the Blind for parents and educators of blind children. Last week, I received a phone call from our daughter’s TVI. She called to inform me that my daughter has been reassigned to a new teacher. All of our hearts are broken. For the last two years, this wonderful woman has gotten my daughter excited about learning braille. I can’t help but feel nervous of what is in store. We’ve had quite the experience with teachers throughout the last few years. Now, it’s time for another trip back to the IEP Frozen Yogurt Shop.

https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr36/2/fr360204.htm

It’s Monday, and your mind is marching a mile a minute.

It’s hot outside, and you don’t want to turn on the stove.

Why not mix it up with a cold quinoa meal?

Featured here is a photo of my lunch.

Leftover cold quinoa from the night before, with a light sprinkling of garlic powder and smoked chipotle powder, topped with green onion, cilantro, and avocado.

What is something simple and savory you like to share?

This week was a tough week for me. I found myself completely overwhelmed and crying. Sometimes sighted people just don’t understand how much extra planning simple things like trips to the doctor can be for a blind parent. I was our BELL Academy coordinator, and teacher, since my teachers were dropping like flies during the week. My daughter had to go homesick because she vomited from her sensitive stomach. She was fine later on, like she always is. The next day when we showed up again, the director of the center who was sponsoring our Academy refused to let her back in the building without a doctors note. There I was, about to start teaching for the day, and having to find a way to take my daughter to the pediatrician just to get a stinking doctors note. Luckily, my friend and lead teacher suggested to call my dad who had dropped us off, who probably wasn’t all the way home yet to turn back around to come and get us. When we finally arrived at the pediatricians office, I ended up crying at the counter explaining my situation. There was a doctor willing to see us, but then I was faced with inaccessible forms to fill out. My dad speaks very little English and couldn’t help me with that. We managed to get the doctors note, return back to the BELL Academy, but my daughter was required to stay home for one extra day just to be on the safe side. I’m not complaining. Life is good. I would not change it any other way. My week was totally worth it. However, sighted people just don’t understand how much extra effort and planning goes into simple things like taking a child to the doctor when you are a blind parent.

Blind Mom in the Burbs will be spending an hour with MARGIE SHEPHERD “CELEBRATING LIFE”

June 23, 2018

.NewsTalk AM720 KDWN

.Tune In /Call In.

Be a part of the SHOW!702-257-5396

From 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. pst.

10 p.m.to11 p.m. cst. and 11 pm to 12 pm est.

I do my best to stay out of political discussions especially when they are extremely heated. However, I just want to share my story again. I was an immigrant child. My family fled from Cambodia because of our own genocide. I was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. I have no memory of any of this because I was able to immigrate to the United States before my second birthday. My parents managed to live their version of the American dream. They owned a thriving business for 25 years. They were a staple in their small-town community. They were, and still are the foundation and backbone to our family. They raised three children who are now raising their own children. We were immigrants then. We are Americans now. We vote. We pay taxes. My brother serves our country in the army. He has been deployed twice, once serving nine months in Afghanistan. My sister is a nurse. I am an advocate, and this is my story.

I wasn’t able to stay up to watch it live on channel 13 news at 11 PM, but here is the link to the piece done on me.

Not sure how I looked, I felt like a hot mess.

I felt awkward on camera.

For the second time, the age of my diagnosis was incorrect.

Besides all that, it was a really great piece.

My message came across well.

You can live the life you want, blindness does not hold you back.

https://www.ktnv.com/news/legally-blind-valley-mom-trains-to-run-for-a-marathon

A few days before I ran my half marathon, I did an interview with Las Vegas review Journal. The article didn’t come out until the end of May, while I was off the grid on our family camping adventure. Friends texted me the link, was tagged on Facebook Shares, and told that I had appeared on the front page. When we returned home and emptied our mailbox full of three weeks of mail, I learned that it had been on the front page of the local mailer. Because of that article, I was contacted by A reporter from Channel 13 news and just gave an interview. I had a dream last night that a Las Vegas golden knights player wanted to help me get endorsements. Maybe this TV interview might find me a corporate sponsor to run with their name on my running gear. Who wouldn’t want their logo on my butt. Hopefully I wasn’t too awkward on camera.

Here is the link to the review journal article.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/henderson/visually-impaired-las-vegas-area-woman-finds-zen-running/