Thursday, May 28, 2009

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen, Edition 3:
Thirteen Little Things That Make Life More Pleasant

(I couldn't get the code to work, so you will have to live without the little cute pic)

1. My phone. I love having the ability to text friends and connect instantly without disturbing the people around me.

2. My iPod. I have it on continously at work and I rarely ever fast forward through a song. I have been very selective about my choices.

3. My Jacuzzi tub.

4. Our new laptop. It's so nice to type and have the keyboard keep up.

5. Peyton's DS. The boys and I have had great fun lately playing it.

6. My favorite pen, which I can't find right now and I hope it's not lost.

7. A good bottle of wine

8. Corona. This was the one thing I craved when I was pregnant with Shey even though I didn't like it before, and of course it was one of the things I couldn't have.

9. Scrapbooking. I wish I had more time to do this.

10. Kids Eat Free on Wednesdays at Buffalos.

11. A good book. This should probably be higher on the list than it is.

12. Facebook. It's been a lot of fun reconnecting with everyone.

13. Biore Skin Preservation Fusion. The best moisturizer/sunscreen for me. Does NOT break me out or smell like subscreen!

12.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Is it Tuesday Again Already?

Apparently if you only post on your blog on the day you picked to weigh in, your blog becomes a weight blog.

So, here we are again on Tuesday. I'm beginning to really not like Tuesdays. I guess writing to you guys is not embarrassing enough, because this morning, my scale read the holy crap, you need to really get moving number of 160. That's my alarm weight. My "I don't need to put another morsel in my mouth" weight. I put on my comfy pants this morning and they weren't quite as comfy.

I will get on the treadmill tonight! I will!

I can't believe a few months ago, I completed not one, but two half marathons. I would absolutely DIE now if I had to do that tomorrow and really, that's just pathetic. All that training, just gone.

A remember a lesson at church that we can't wait for the motivation to come in order to act, we have to act and with that the motivation will follow. I need to act. I will act.

Anyone with me?

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Weighing In

Huh, so you mean not working out all week and then eating and drinking all day on Sunday and having a big piece of Death by Chocolate cake on Monday night won't help you lose any weight? In fact, it will show up as a one pound gain on weigh-in day?

Imagine that.

It's not that I even care about the one pound, because I know by tomorrow, or Thursday at the latest, it will have gone away, but that's just the thing. I am good at maintaining, not so good at putting in that extra effort to lose. If I work out, I eat more. If I don't work out, I eat the same. Either way, nothing comes off.

Why is discipline so hard.

This week should have been easy. Larry is out of town and I stocked up on Lean Cuisine, but last night was scrapbooking, Wednesday night, I'm going out with my friend because her husband is out of town too, then Thursday night, we are taking our other friend out for her birthday and then Friday is Peyton's b-day. Whew.

There's always something.

I need another race to train for. As much as I disliked the training, at least I did it then.

Somebody please, come to Florida and kick me in the rear.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Weighing the Options

I knew while I was training for the half-marathon that I would need to be careful when it was over. I knew that I would continue stuffing my face even though I was no longer running at least 15 miles a week and the pounds would start packing on. I knew this.

And yet, did I do anything about it.

Not really. I have been sporadically exercising, but not at the same intensity as I was. I've somewhat cut back on my eating, but not enough. I actually maintained pretty well for a couple of months, but the the cruise came. And so did the extra 4 pounds. The 4 pounds that have settled in and are getting comfy on my rear. I'm sure it's a lovely place, but seriously, they need to go.

To some, four pounds may not seem like a lot, but on my 5 foot, 4 and a half inch body, it definitely shows. Thankfully, my body pretty evenly distributes my weight, so it's not a huge difference, but I can feel it. If I don't stop it now though, those four pounds are going to invite their buddies to the party.

Let's just lay it out there, shall we?

158

That's what the scale said this morning. I would like to be between 150 and 152. I know my body. I know that to get below that I will have to put a lot more work into this than I probably want to, so let's be realistic. I know what that weight looks like on me and I would be happy with it.

Six pounds. That's all I'm looking for.

So, here is what I propose. Instead of paying weight watchers to embarrass us, does anyone want to join this journey with me? Tuesdays can be our weigh-in days. If you want to keep it anonymous, just comment that way.

I don't really want to turn this into a weight loss blog, so we can keep it to Tuesdays. You can post things that have helped you, or things that have set you back. We can make it up as we go along.

I just needed to throw this out there so I will be accountable to someone other than myself.

Anyone, anyone??

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day

More and more, I catch myself doing something and thinking, "that's just like mom." Larry sees it too. He has taken to calling me P.O.O. or Product of Ora. And you know, I am ok with that.

I love you, mom.

Friday, May 08, 2009

I'll Remember

- a tiny ball of fur no taller than a step and weighing only 3 pounds
- a protective older brother jumping on the bed to guard baby Peyton from visitors
- a wrestling partner for Larry, who snarled and barked while wagging his tail
- tumbleweeds of fur rolling across my living room floor
- our little lion with his hair waving in the breeze as he sat outside on a windy day
- a crazy barker who answered the door when the kids thought it would be funny to ring the doorbell again and again
- a limper who still came when we said treat like it was the best thing on earth
- a deep and peaceful sleep in my arms when he was ready to go.

I love you Zeus.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

On Zeus

Sometime in the past year or so, we noticed that Zeus (our dog) was starting to walk with a bit of a limp. He is getting up there in dog years, so we figured it was arthritus, took him to the vet and they prescribed Remedol. He stayed on that for a while, but things seemed to be getting worse. We took him back to the vet and were prescribed a round of steriods, but that didn't help much either.

Then we went to another vet for a second opinion, who referred us to a neurologist. The tentative diagnosis was a tumor somewhere in his spine. We could opt for a costly MRI and possibly treatments, or we could give him pain medication and just wait it out. We opted for the pain meds. It's not that we don't love our dog, but if it was cancer, the prognosis wasn't good for going into remission and Larry and I just couldn't justify that type of money for something that wasn't going to work anyway.

As time went on, his back right leg got worse and we noticed his left leg was starting to go too. Zeus was basically walking on what we would consider our ankles. Flat footed, like a rabbit. The one light in all this was we were finally told that he wasn't in any pain, it was just uncomfortable for him to walk like this.

Larry's aunt eventually recommended a rehab vet who had done wonders for her dog and I scheduled an appointment with them a few months ago. The vet was extremely nice and she diagosed him as having an auto-immune problem. Basically, his body was attacking the tissues and muscles in his legs, which was causing them to atrophy. She recommended braces and water therapy, but she wasn't very optomistic since the problem was so far gone.

So, for the past couple of months, we've made life as easy as possible for Zeus. We added some pavers behind our back door, so he didn't have such a big step. We step over him even when he is right in the way, because it's getting hard for him to get up. Lately though, he's not really eating and I think it's because it's so hard for him to go to the bathroom, so it's his body's way of limiting the squatting.

Larry and I hate this. We know we will have to make a decision soon because now he's dragging that foot, almost like a constant toe stubbing. What sucks the most is his mind is fine and he's not in any pain, but I can tell he's tired. The other day he just sat there and stared at his leg like, "what the hell's wrong with you?"

It breaks my heart. He is our first baby and an awesome dog.

This is the worst part of having pets, especially when you have to make the decision to put them to sleep. I don't want him to be in pain, but I almost wish he was because then I would have a clear cut answer and a feeling when you can definitely say, it's time.

Our Little Lion