For those who were looking for the pet names:
Gracie, Buster and Jack are my dogs, and Sebastian is my cat.
Jack was like a bundle of energy today. Don't get me wrong, he always has energy, he's a Jack Russell, but today, he had trouble settling. Luckily, he's finally found a cozy position and has snuggled in. I'm not sure why he was so antsy today, but no biggie. He's such a sweetheart.
Grace is a bona fide couch potato. Period...and she's more aloof than the cat.
Sebastian thinks he's a dog sometimes. I swear he does.
Buster Boo, he's just the most tolerant little guy. Jack jumps on him all the time, because he wants to play, and Buster isn't interested most the time. They've worked out a pattern, but I just shake my head sometimes, because Jack can be relentless with Boo. Boo is a good sport, 99% of the time.
This is the jealous circle here...
Grace gets jealous of the cat. Boo gets jealous of Gracie. Jack gets jealous of everyone. He thinks he owns me. The cat gets jealous of Jack.
So..I'll be petting the cat, and Gracie needs attention, which means Boo wants attention, which means Jack pounces on me, because I'm his. Now that Jack is there, the cat comes around, which brings Gracie...you see the pattern?
Last picture for awhile...I'm pretty well pictured out for today.
I know people take tons and tons of pictures. To me 3 or 4, and I'm done! LOL Oh well, guess I'm not the picture taking maven I once was....or jeez, was I ever really? Eh, who knows
We'll be heading out to play shortly. :) Have a great day!
When my boys were small, the house was littered with toys here and there. Soon, they were old enough to start picking up behind themselves. Graice loves toys....but she doesn't pick up after herself! We've tried to teach her, but it isn't happening...lazy dog.
If I try to pick up her toys and put them in a bucket, she doesn't like it at all! She'll go in one by one and pull them all out. She likes them spread all about, so she has easy access to them! We rotate out the worst ones when they go to the kennel. We take one to the kennel, and then say good-bye to it when we pick them up! Here's a little bit of what my family room floor looks like today.
Little Dog wants nothing to do with toys. He could care less! We have one more dog coming into the family in 2 weeks. We've bought two toys for him, and we'll see if he likes them. They have to be "Gracie" proof, but small enough for him. It was a tough search, but we found two perfect ones. Still...Boo (our beagle), not interested in toys.
Here's more of Gracie's casualties left all over my floor!
This mallard duck is one of her favorites. She's partial to toys with fur, so she can lick and bathe them! LOL It's so cute...
Uh-oh, I see stuffing...time to sew up another one. She has three versions of this monkey. She loves him, and he's held up to 120 pounds of dog for quite awhile. Call in the medics...err..I better get a thread and needle.
I think the yellow duck has seen better days. I guess he gets sent to the kennel during vacation time. She's not much into cleaning up...that's my job!
I used to participate on a regular basis in Self Portrait Sunday. My friend Cass used to host it over on DigiCass.com. I think she does it over on MidlifeMusings.com now. I got away from doing it for awhile, and the blog I used to post it on, I put into hibernation. I decided to take a picture this morning and tell you what happened to me when I started doing Self Portrait Sunday before.
I'm very self critical, or I should say, I'm self critical about some things. I'll be honest, it used to be very hard for me to see a picture of myself that I liked. I either looked too fat, my face was too red, my hair looked bad, I had a double chin in it, and so forth. You get the idea...it was always something....and the thing is, I saw it more than others did.
When I started getting into the habit of seeing myself weekly in a picture, I found myself going from "I hate this picture" to "This one isn't so bad". You see, honestly, once I got used to seeing myself in a picture, it wasn't as traumatic to me. It sounds silly, but others started getting used to it also, and they were less critical over time. Instead of seeing things like, "I look bad today, but here it is", you'd see "This is me".
It's healing to be able to look at yourslf, and not be disappointed in what you see. I used to wear make-up daily, and working from home, I got used to seeing myself without it. In the beginning, it really bothered me; now it doesn't phase me in the least bit.
We become more comfortable with ourselves when we can be okay with what we see in ourselves.
So....this is me, taken this morning May 18th. It could be better, it could be worse, but true enough, if you were at my house today, this is what I look like. You know what? I'm okay with that....and that's a nice thing.
If you haven't tried participating in Self-Portrait Sunday, give it a try. You may find it healing your inner critic as well.
Max will soon be coming to live with us. We are really excited about this addition to our family!
I just wanted to post his picture, so you could see why I'm all giddy and joyful today. :)
I had an exciting day today. I got to go meet a couple of dogs. I went to decide which dog would be the new addition to our family. I went through a rescue group that we got both of our other dogs through. I love this woman...she is so good with the dogs, and she does such an amazing job with them.
We'll be adding our family member next month. Because we'll be going away in early June, we made the decision to wait a little bit, rather than bring him into our home, and then turn around and kennel him, which would be confusing. Stay tuned to see his pic shortly!
This bookshelf sits between my two desks. I had an empty shelf I hadn't placed anything on yet, and the cat decided he would make it his own. After enough times climbing up there, I put some old fleece pajama pants down for him, and he's been in love. It's not an official cat condo, but it's another cozy space that he loves to curl up in.
He loves nooks and crannies, so while I saw an empty shelf that some books might go in, he claimed it as his own. I love looking over and seeing him sleeping there while I'm working on projects. He always looks so comfortable!
I had a mammogram today, and they found a lump in my right breast. I'm not in a total state of panic, as I have cystic breasts. I went through this about 5 years ago when they found a lump in my left breast. I was called back and they rechecked....and the next year, and the next year it happened again. It hasn't changed size or shape, and the left one has the all clear.
Today, they found a lump in my right breast. The left one is still where it is, no change, but the right one is new. She took extra films, and they'll have a better answer for me after the doctor sees the films.
I have mixed emotions on this. On one hand, I'm not overly nervous, because my brain thinks it's just a repeat of what happened with my left breast.
On the other hand, it's struck me and my heart is in my throat. How can you not be scared when they tell you they've found a lump in your breast. My grandmother lost both her breasts to breast cancer. I went shopping after I heard and spent a little too much. I didn't eat though, so that was a choice I made. My normal reactions to a very stressful situation: shop or eat. I didn't want to go off track, since I've been doing so well with clean eating. Trust me, Cold Stone Creamery was calling my name, but I turned to Fashion Bug instead.
Do I have a right to be nervous? Of course I do, but if I say it out loud, am I over reacting to something that hasn't happend? Have you been there?
Ironically, my sister is waiting on some test results this week as well. It's taken forever for her to get her results, and here it's my turn to wait.
Because I couldn't help myself, I went and looked at pictures of women who have gotten a mastectomy. It's on my mind....are my breasts safe for another year? What if they aren't? I'm not ready to part with them, or part of them. They're mine...don't take them away.
Mixed emotions. Like I said, not a total panic, but a quiet sadness that I have to sit and think about this for awhile. It brings me back to the first time I heard I had a lump in my left breast, and I was left wondering...soon. I'll have my answer soon. It will be okay. I know it will....I still feel sad...just sort of want to cry, but nothing to cry at right now.
My sister is waiting on some important tests. Its' been WELL OVER a week now, and she still hasn't heard anything. They have to know how hard this wait is. She tried calling yesterday, but the office was closed for Good Friday. It's so frustrating waiting on a phone call, and you don't know what they're going to say.
Is it no news is good news, or it's just taking awhile to get the answers? Nobody knows at this point, so hopefully Monday or Tuesday we'll FINALLY get an answer.
Have I turned into a boring middle aged woman? Do I look like a typical lady you'd see in the market, and you'd peg me for one of those people...?
How did this happen? I mean, sure I know how it happens, but I tried to keep life interesting. I was the friend that had the great stories, because I lived them. I was the person who was charismatic and brought energy to a room.
I'm sitting here realizing I've hit midlife..is this my crisis?
Is that it? I mean, I guess I'm okay being pegged as "nice", but am I plain now? Dear God, how did this hapen? Where did my pizazz go? Where's my sass? *sigh*
In my weight loss quest, I'm now going to my trainer 3x a week. One of the things I've noticed is that my body tends to like this new time better. I was going later in the afternoon, and switched to two earlier appointments, and kept one of my later ones. The earlier appointments, I'm more in the groove! This is good to know. When I rebook in the summer, I'll be keeping these earlier times.
I had to bring in my food journal today, and I've been eating clean for awhile now. I haven't gone off track at all during the challenge I'm part of. I get one cheat meal a week. Exercise at home is a little harder for me to get in though.
In this journey, I've really discovered some inner strength I didn't know I had. It's been a great experience for me.
That's right, my dog has that look in her eyes...you know the one.."I'm special, come stop what you're doing and pay attention to me." Or it could be.."feed me", because she always wants food. Anyway, here she is staring me down, and I'm trying to ignore her for a little bit, because I have some writing to do!
Sigh, she wins...2 minutes, 2 minutes, no more!
Dog 1, Me 0
I wish I could say I've been feeling more chatty, but truth be told, I've been focused this month! Dare I say it? Me....focused? Usually I flit about from one thing to another, not really sure where I want to be, or what I want to accomplish each day.
March has been a wind of change.
I've actually accomplished so much, I'm left scratching my head. I'm not sure what's different. The other thing that's happened, is that I've lost my obsession about the slow changes in my body. I've upped my training to 3x a week, from 2x a week, and I'm finally at peace that it will take awhile for my bod to respond. I'm okay with it...things are happening.
I've mentioned a few times I'm working out. Man, it wears me out some days, but I know I'm doing things the healthy way. It's a slow tedious loss process, but it will help keep the weight off. Anyway, one of the things I did desperately before starting with my trainer was try so many different things, diet pills, fad diets and other failed attempts at losing weight.
I thank goodness for the internet, because you'll find a lot of non-biased reviews on things. That saved me a lot of money, but when you're at that point of desperation, you'll try about anything. What I didn't try was hard work, exercise and changing everything I put in my mouth. Imagine what happened when I did it the right way! I started to lose.
Anyway, if you want to read non-biased reviews, check out SyberVision.com where you can read reviews like this one on Akavar. Seriously, if there was a magic pill, don't you think it would be all over the news? When it's just in the back of some magazine, it tells you it's good marketing, and trying to trigger a response in you. It would be on every single news channel and Oprah and all the others if it was a secret answer in a pill.
My thighs are hitting a high note way off key this morning! I got a good workout yesterday, and it's left me crumpled up this morning like a little old lady with no bone density. (think rubber chicken)
I've got chores to do today, things to accomplish, and I just don't see it happening. Okay, maybe later in the day I'll stop whining like the small child I am.
Either way, its the one and two days after that get you. Last night, it started to creep in, but today I'll be stretching in all sorts of funky angles to try to stretch out each and every aching muscle.
One step closer to summer, so I understand it's for a good cause. No need to scare small children on the beach like I have for the last 20 years. This year, I'm hoping to blend seamlessly! LOL
I lost my father 5 years ago. I'm sitting here thinking about him, since February 21st marks the anniversary of his death. I'm not sure how I've functioned in life and lived this long without him here. He doesn't answer the phone when I call my Mom's house, and isn't here to laugh at life's silliness. Time heals a lot, and we manage to keep going.
I remarried the spring after he left us, and he wasn't at my wedding. He isn't in any of the photos that showcase our family.
I'll do something, and wonder how my father would react, but I can only guess how he would have reacted now. It's been five years...
I miss him. Time waits for no one.
My father was an avid outdoorsmen, a guy's guy and everyone liked him. He was a fun person to be around.
I carry him in my heart and soul, in my memories and prayers. It's just so hard to believe that five years has passed.
Love you Daddy.
I'm really excited, because I was able to put on a shirt I've been looking to fit into. My goal by the end of February was to be able to wear one partiuclar shirt, and my Adidas coat. I've had that damn coat in my closet for 4 years. I can wear it comfortably now. :)
I actually had the same coat awhile back, but it got ruined, so I went onto eBay and found a replacement. The only problem was, I couldn't wear it yet. It was an XL and I was a XXL, and sometimes an XXXL!
When I tried on the shirt today, it fit nicely, and I went to the closet...slipped it on, zipped it up, and I can finally wear my coat without it looking funky! Woohoo...I've met this goal, and it's the middle of February.
Nice feeling :)
Clean eating and regular exercise are paying off...
I have a large project I'm working on, and today I have plans to accomplish a few things. It's 8:30 and I'm avoiding the actual start of this work! Yikes, I need to get on it, and just get it done. I have about 6 pages I'd like to get written today for a website, and I'm just not feeling it.
Hopefully, I'll get in the groove soon enough.
I'm a master staller, procrastinator, putter-offer...whatever you want to call it!
Connie over at Brain Foggles tagged me with a Crazy 8 MeMe. Here's my answers...
8 Things I’m Passionate About
1. I'm passionate about kindness. I strive for it in my daily life, and appreciate it in others.
2. I'm passionate about my family. Aren't we all?
3. I'm passionate about writing. I've had the writing bug since I was a young girl.
4. I'm passionate about traveling.
5. I'm passionate about Long Beach Island and Orlando.
6. I'm passionate about skin care.
7. I'm passionate about reading. Right now, by my chair I have a stack of books I'm reading.
8. I'm passionate about animals. I've been an animal lover my entire life.
8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die
1. Tour the United States...all of it.
2. Watch my children marry and have children, or find happiness.
3. Reach my goal weight.
4. Retire early.
5. Fulfill my personal goals.
6. Watch my sister's children marry, have children or find happiness.
7. Own a house at the beach.
8. Have inner peace.
8 Things I Say Often
1. Hon
2. Sorry to hear about your bad luck (sarcastic)
3. Cool beans
4. Get a grip on reality child! (to my son!)
5. Seriously?
6. Yikes!
7. Come on....(out of frustration)
8. Jackass (HA! when I'm pissed off!)
8 Books I’ve Read Recently
1. Women and Money, Suze Orman
2. The New Earth, Eckhert Tolle
3. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, Tucker Max
4. A Dirty Job, Christopher Moore
5. Love & Respect
6. The Message (New Testament in Contemporary Language)
7. a naughty book (wink)
8. tons, and tons, and tons of magazines each month
8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over
1. Crazy, Gnarls Barkley
2. Stilletto, Billy Joel
3. Light as a Breeze, Billy Joel
4. Saturday Night's Allright for Fighting, Elton John
5. She's No Lady, She's My Wife, Lyle Lovett
6. Wide Open Spaces, Dixie Chicks
7. Nothin Better to Do, LeAnn Rimes
8. Big Girls Don't Cry, Fergie
8 Things That Attract Me to My Best Friend
1. Love (my husband is my best friend)
2. Kindness
3. Genuine
4. Honesty
5. Sense of humor
6. Compassion and empathy
7. Spontaneous
8. Good Listener and conversationalist
Thank you for including me, Deb
I've been up to my eyeballs in projects this week. It's a good healthy busy, but I'm hitting a wall. I'm going to try to not work on any of my projects today at all to get a breather. I'm building a large website, along with two smaller ones. I've been obsessing over details, and pouring over keywords and information. My eyes feel blurry and worn this morning!
I get my cheat meal today, and I'm planning on having something good. I was going to have it yesterday, as Saturday is usually when I have my cheat meal, but timing was off, and we were out at the wrong time. I'll be enjoying a special lunch today, then my cheat is over until next week. It's okay, I'm realizing I like pretty much everything I'm eating now anyway, and my itch for a cheat isn't so much wanting a "bad" meal, but more of the emotional outlet of being able to plan for it. It helps you, so you stay clean during the week with food.
Here's my latest picture update. I've been working with my trainer Danielle since September. I notice changes in my face, while it seems I'm losing weight slowly in my body at times, then all of a sudden, I'll notice things like a waist, or a curve in my ankle.
Here are some cool things that have bene happening...I stopped snoring! While I haven't had a significant amount of fat loss, though I'm losing inches, things are changing inside my body big time. As you gain weight, sometimes snoring is one of those things, and unfortunately, I got bad after I hit a certain weight. That's pretty much gone! Wow! My husband's thrilled about that one.
Here's a cool one for me, after I got home from my workout on Tuesday, as tired and worn out as I was, I grabbed a snow shovel and cleared the driveway, our walkway, and our back patio! I was okay! Then I did it again about 3 hours later! Hubby usually does that, but he wasn't home yet, so I thought, I would surprise him.
This is going to sound very silly, but just think about this. I can now reach and scratch my back easier! When you're heavy, sometimes those little tiny things are just not as easy to do. I'm more flexible, there's less of me, and I can actually scratch an itch on my back now! LOL
I don't get out of breath putting my shoes on, running up the stairs, or things of that nature.
I may lose slowly, but it will stay off, because for once in my life, I'm finally doing things the right way. My eating is totally under control, I've gotten rid of junk in my diet, and I exercise regularly now. It's become second nature, and I love that. I didn't think it would happen, but it has. I didn't say I love to exercise, but I do feel better AFTER I've done it! Ha, I'll never jump out of bed and go, woohooo, I get to exercise! I've made peace with it though, and don't mind that it's part of the process, so for me that's cool.
I start writing this post with a heavy heart. I didn't expect this to happen to me, well, not yet anyway. We were heading out last night, and for some reason the light caught my hand at just the right angle, and there it was....chicken skin. GASP! Chicken Skin (aka Keratosis Pilaris) was staring back at me.
What? Not yet, I moisturize, I use sun block, and well....I'm too young to have chicken skin right?
That's when the sad reality slapped me (okay, slugged the crap out of me) in the face. I'm into my 40's now, and it was bound to happen. I'll make peace with it shortly, but it's just a sad, sad day for my hands. The aging has started.
The dogs were on the sofa and moved the pillows off of it. That cat decided it make an excellent resting place. I left them there, because he's been sleeping there a lot the last couple of days!
The living room sofa is mostly the dogs. This is where my office is, and they sleep on it during the day to keep me company. The cat can find any spot that looks comfortable and in moments, he's sleeping there.
He keeps me company no matter how many hours I put in a day. Boo, Buggy, Buster, whatevever name comes out of my mouth at that moment, is my buddy. The best part is he doesn't mind if I'm having a bad hair day, have PMS or am giddy with laughter over something trivial. :)
This is what my desk is looking like right now. I have some things I want to do, things I want to rewrite for a website, dates I need to remember, plug-ins I wanted to add to a few places, and the Advil is always in site!
What does your week look like?
My trainer Danielle has been a blessing for me. Not only is she helping me with one-on-one training, she's also a dietitian, and I'm now up to eating clean 5 days a week. The turn around within me is amazing. I've still got a long way to go, but thanks to the help of Danielle over at Metamorphosis Studio, I'm able to see my future in a way I couldn't before.
I believe I found her in particular for a reason. I'm very overweight, and the thought of working out at a gym with other people wasn't something I looked forward to. I started looking at trainers, and the moment I walked in her studio and spoke with her, I knew we'd be a good match.
She makes me feel like I'm part of a team, and that means a lot to me. When I start to feel overwhelmed with the large task at hand, I remind myself, that while I haven't been able to do it alone all these years, she knows exactly what she's doing and it's time to trust her.
I've accomplished a lot so far, and I'm in in for the long haul. You're looking at a woman who has 100 pounds to lose. That's not pretty, but for the first time in my life, I'm not giving up, and I'm doing it the right way. I'm not looking for a quick fix, and I'm not looking for an easy way out.
I'm working hard, I'm working out, and I'm eating clean, healthy foods.
When I first thought about eating clean, meaning ridding myself of foods with preservatives and chemicals, and things I didn't recognize, it made me nervous. What if I couldn't find foods I didn't like? Man, it was all for nothing, because not only am I enjoying what I'm eating now, my tastes are changing, and I don't want to put the other stuff back in me.
I turn a box around to look at the ingredients, and if there's junk in it, I just think, yikes, I don't want that in me. I'm working so hard. I'm down 25+ inches, and I'll be measured again next week. I'm hoping it's more, but I'll take what I can get. I'm not giving up, because I'm finally realizing my future is there for me to reach out to it.
I'm excited and know that this time next year, I'll see myself as a healthier and thinner person. Amazing to me, as I've not seen myself as an adult at a healthy weight. I'm enjoying the transformation, and when I get further along on the journey, I'll post pics of the changes.
I started with Danielle in September, and it's been 4 months so far. I won't stop until I reach my goal, and she knows I'm in in for the long haul. I'm dedicated and am working to make the changes necessary.
If you're looking to make a fresh start, or get back into shape, she's really a neat person to work with. For more information, you can find her information here.
WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?
LINKS (keep reading) and a great feeling, knowing you're helping a great cause.
I am trying to raise $1800 for breast cancer by participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I'll be walking 26 miles, and bringing more awareness to this disease.
Here is my official donation page through AvonFoundation.org. Under my picture, there is a pink button that says "SUPPORT ME".
In an effort to raise donations, I'm offering you an awesome deal.
If you make a donation through my official donation page, I'll hook you up with link love. I have a network of 10 active blogs. Each is updated regularly, and is current. Please click on the pink button under my picture on the donation page that says "SUPPORT ME".
You must make a donation through the official donation page. They accept credit cards so it's a quick and easy way to donate. Remember, you're making the donation through the AvonFoundation at my official fund raising page to sponsor my walk. You are not paying me individually.
Once you have made the donation, email me at: DebsMix (at) Gmail (dot) com, to let me know what you would like me to link to. I WILL NOT LINK TO GAMBLING, RX sites or ADULT SITES. Once I recieve an email from them showing that your donation was made, I will add your link.
WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?
I'm bringing awareness and helping raise money for breast cancer.
My grandmother lost both her breasts to breast cancer, and I've had my own scare in 2003, after they found a lump via mammogram. Thankfully for me it was benign. My grandmother was not as fortunate, and on two separate occassions went through breast cancer, each time having to sacrifice a breast. I'm making a difference in my own small way.
If you'd like more information on Breast Cancer, I have a Breast Cancer Awareness page here.
I love playing with colors and pictures. I'm not a graphics girl, but I know what I like. I'm about to start building another website during the next week or so, and have been busy looking at great photos over at iStockPhoto.com. I love that place for professional images! Anyway, last night, I got caught up looking at images so I could pull just the right ones I'll need when I build my site. I like to have all the pictures that I like selected, and then I go in, buy more credits and purchase them. Lookig through the pictures, I could feel the creative surge swirling through me. It's a slow process in the beginning for me, because I know I'll sit for hours tinkering and playing with things.
I'd like it to have a similar feel as another site I have, but offer totally different information. Once I get into the want or desire to get started, it's like a fever takes over me, and I have to keep going! I'll start to feel the drain about 3/4's of the way through. That's the point where I'm doing playing with the creative side, and working on adding content and more information.
Either way, I'm ready to dig in and get started. I've penciled out an outline, ideas that I want to flow with, along with topics I'd like to cover, and looking at the amount of content I'd like to add.
My schedule has an interuption in the middle of the day today, as it's my first day back to my trainer, so I'm going to start it tomorrow! I can't wait to dig into the project and get going. It feeds my creative side.
"So anyway...."
It's a chatty Monday in my brain today. The funny thing is, I don't feel like picking up the phone and chatting on the phone, so I'll just let my fingers do the talking today.
About a week ago, I'd mentioned that we were looking at keeping our vacation club, or possibly letting it go. We decided to keep it, and when I realized the large network we were a part of, I was open to all sorts of new options.
My problem came in when I actually tried to book reservations! I have now tried to book 22 different reservations, which are all full. That's crazy! I tried booking a bunch of them 6 months ahead, and a few more 8-10 months ahead. It doesn't look like it's going to work well through the extended network. Through our own company, I can find answers, but they aren't the answers I want right now.
For example, I can't get into the Keys in Florida, but I can get into Hawaii. Great, fabulous, but hello, airfare to Hawaii is astronomical! I can get into Vegas, but only a 1 bedroom, as opposed to a 3 bedroom in Orlando, based on the points.
I've been fiddling around with this thing for the last few days, and I'm pretty frustrated right now. I ended up having to purchase a separate vacation for summer, and now I have this pending. I'm not sure if I'm going to do something in the fall iwth my husband, or what I'm doing at this point.
It's paid for in full, so it's just waiting for me to book something. The problem is, what I want, and what I can get are two different things! Don't get me wrong, I can book Orlando again, but I've been there 4 times in the last 2 years. Love it, but was hoping to go a few other places.
Maybe we'll toss Sedona back into the mix again, we'll see. We loved it out there, but we were really looking more towards the east coast so travel is a bit easier.
I guess time will tell. As for now, my son and I are booked to enjoy North Myrtle Beach in South Carolina this summer. Only I had to pay for that, because through the vacation club it was booked! Stupid thing....
Did I ever mention here that I gave up butter? No really, I don't use butter anymore. I don't use it in my cooking, I don't add it to my vegetables, and I don't add it to my toast. It was a deal I made with my trainer. It was actually easier than I thought. I was concerned I wouldn't be able to do it, but once I stopped using it, I didn't feel the need or desire to start again. I do have to say, down the shore, while having steamers(steamed clams) or lobster, all bets are off. That is when I'll have butter. That's it.
Popcorn is another story. I love butter and salt on my popcorn, along with corn on the cob. It goes together like soup and crackers, ya know? Anyway, I struck a deal that I could have popcorn still, but in return I get four sprays of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter". That's it, no more, and not real butter, but it's a bargain I was willing to make on my quest to a better body.
Popcorn is actually a safe treat I can eat. It's safe when it's not loaded up with butter, and eaten naturally. I'm grateful it's on my list of foods to eat, because it's filling and is great fun to eat while watching movies!
I've always loved those home theater popcorn machines, but I don't eat it often enough to justify it. I think they're cool though, and would a great additon to an entertainment room! If you've thought about getting one, check out StargateCinema.com for their huge selection of home theater seating, decor, and more. I love that they have the ability to search items by price. It makes gift selection a breeze!
It feels like I'm sitting on a rock. The good news is now that rock is a round rock, and not pointy. This stupid hamstring pull has been no fun.
On that note, I haven't taken any medication today. Yesterday, I held out until around 6pm. It's bothering me today, but I'm hoping to distract myself enough to not have to take anything. I'm only going to take the RX Ibuprofen at this point, but it's frustrating that this stupid rock won't move.
My brain says put a pillow under it so it feels softer. Duh! The feeling is inside my body, not outside of it. It doesn't really register, but it is what it is.
I head back to my trainer tomorrow, and I'll be glad to see her again. I want to get back into a routine, because being off a routine throws me off track. I'll be doing upper body training, and light treadmill work for my legs for now. I've got to take things slowly, and not rush myself. Thankfully, I'm working with someone who knows how to help me heal properly. That's a relief.
I took my pain medication a little bit ago, and I'm getting a bit spacey, so please excuse typos. I'm trying to write this before it's totally kicked in.
I woke up yesterday and tried to roll over in bed. I couldn't move my leg, the pain was so intense. I had no idea what was going on, it was 6am, I had to pee and I was having trouble moving my leg, so I could get out of bed. For a moment, I literally thought I'd dislocated my hip or something. Every itsy bitsy movement drove pain to my hip, then below my bottom. I finally maneuvered out of bed after much whimpering and hobbling, and made it to the bathroom. I realized my hip wasn't the problem, but what was?
I've done a number on it, and apparently I'll be a hurting puppy for awhile. We called the doctor because it hurts to sit, stand, walk, lie down, well, just about anything. After consulting with a doctor on the phone, since everyone's office was closed, they called in two medications for me with strict instructions that if they muscle relaxant and RX strength Advil didn't help with the pain in two hours, to go to the Emergency Room.
You guessed it, we ended up at the Emergency Room. The meds had done nothing to alleviate my pain. On a scale of 1-10, I was at a 10. The doctor confirmed I pulled my hamstring, but I'll have to go to an orthopedic guy to find out if it's torn and if so, how much.
They gave me heavy pain meds, and it takes my pain from a 10 down to a 6, so I'm grateful.
I'll keep you updated with my progress as time goes on. For now, I'm a hurting puppy, and so relieved the pain meds I was given helps bring me relief. I have a week's worth, and I'm hoping that by the end of the week it won't still be this painful!
What did I do? I don't have a clue. I was fine when I went to bed, and when I woke up, I couldn't move! Thankfully my husband was here and has helped me.
The emergency room doctor, who was great, said hamstrings are slow to heal.
Oh joy! (note the sarcasm)
This is what we made yesterday! My son and I had a good time constructing the pieces to stand together, and then decorating. I can't take full credit, it was a kit which made the job much easier!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and are feeling relaxed now that it's passed. The stress and pressure are gone, and the New Year is almost upon us! That's why people party on New Year's Eve, so they can let out the rest of the steam from the build-up to Christmas!
We've got pretty quiet plans today, nothing major. I told my son we could go to GameStop, since he has money burning a hole in his pocket. I'm looking at a list of things I want to accomplish this week, and I'm wondering how much of it will actually get done.
Besides the usual household chores like laundry and cleaning up, I'm also looking at some online chores, some books I wanted to be reading, some articles I'd set aside and more! It's funny when I'm making the list, I think I'll have plenty of time. Ha! If I can stay focused only on the list it's one thing....but then I turn on a computer game or something, and I've lost hours!
This week is a week of maintenance for my websites. I have approximately 30 websites that I manage. I need to go in, check for detail work, re look at a few things, and tighten it all up. It's not a fun week I have ahead, but it's what I've got to do. At least my son will be here this week, so I'll take breaks to play games with him and other things.
My son's desk is right next to mine, so we'll chatter a bit while he plays World of Warcraft, and I work. He doesn't know it yet, but he got a new computer! He desparetly needed to be upgraded, so it's all set. We even loaded in some extra games and his WOW disks for him. He's good to go!
What will you be doing this week?
I'm also looking at advertising right now. I've done advertising for my skin care book, but I'm looking at new ways to advertise my small business blog over at BizMarkTech.com. I've gotten some business cards to pass to the offline crowd, but I'm thinking of postcards of promotional pens as well. I know when I launched my skin care book, I mailed schools postcards with information and my web address. It's all new to me, and I like to learn as I go. It helps me enjoy the journey. I could pay someone to do it for me, but I love the actual learning experience!
What have you had good experience with offline, to advertise online sites?
I was just trusted to make cookies. I'm in the process of doing this "clean eating" and I was trusted alone with cookie dough. I ate two, and cooked the rest. I'm not proud, and I hate how easily it was for me to go, "okay, just these two". Seriously, I'm doing well otherwise though. I know I set today aside as a small cheat day. I'll still watch, but I know today will be the hardest for me of all the days this week. I didn't have to start so poorly all ready though, did I?
I thought of my trainer the other night as I grabbed two Maalox Max tablets. I've been doing well, and I had a cheat day, which I'm allowed, but boy it didn't feel good. She told me I'd feel like crap, and I did.
I'm going to switch from 3 days on/1 day off in January. I'll be pressing myself to 5 days clean/2 days off. (Wed: out to dinner, and Saturday will be my cheat day). I'm inching my way to 6/1, but because I just started, I'm afraid to jump in with both feet.
Today I know to avoid the au gratin potatoes and stick with the vegetables. I know to avoid certain foods all together. I know to bring my own drinks along so I have something I enjoy. I'm learning a big piece of this is planning ahead. It's only been a week, but I'm in the mindset to really give it my all. I'll probably need the Maalox tonight. :( I'm going to try to avoid the bad stuff. It's going to be hard.