my big fat life: back to normal

Gosh, this might be a long one. I will see if I can't focus my ADD mind enough to make it at least half way readable.

Zorro went to his new home Wednesday. I would like to say I am over the moon for the couple that got him but I'm really not. They are good people and seem to be very active but they have a very small backyard with a garden and asked questions like "will he dig?" We (the rep from border collie rescue and recovery BCRR) told them that he will dig, chew the brick off the house, very well might make an attempt to take over the world if you don't keep him active and engaged. We gave them pretty much every bad thing that you can encounter, especially with a BC - they are first time dog owners - and they still wanted him. I know they are going to have him sleep in his crate and for some reason that breaks my heart because he slept with me and loved to cuddle. But, again, he is a border collie and needs boundaries. I really wish this would have worked out for me and I think I will always feel a little guilt about the situation but I got him out of the shelter and healthy enough to find a home that we could screen. His new dad sent me a text this morning asking if I sent him the paperwork he will need to get him in obedience so at least he is trying. I know they will love him but I'm still going to stalk their house for awhile.

In the meantime my house is quiet, the cats are almost back to normal and Bailey loves being the center of attention again. Truman is also much happier, the puppies played pretty rough and he felt like he needed to step in and referee which created a whole new level of stress and anxiety to my life. Little T-Man is back to his life of leisure sitting right next to me in the recliner. Marcy, bless her, is just Marcy.

Also on Wednesday I had an appointment with an oral surgeon. When I had my teeth cleaned the dentist noticed white, somewhat hard, growth at the base of my tongue. Neither him nor the OS thinks it's cancer but they don't know what it is. I have had too many people tell me horror stories about similar situations where it did turn into cancer to not take it seriously. I don't think it is anything serious but I would like to know what it is. So I am going in July 3rd to have it biopsies. I had already planned on taking July 5th off and the doctor said I would be back to work on Monday. They will have to sedate me because of the location of the growth, I mean it is way back at the base of my tongue so it will take some maneuvering to get it out. Dennis will really enjoy the quiet since I'm sure my mouth will be swollen and maybe talking won't be so easy.

I haven't been to the gym in well over a month. I talked to my trainer and will start back up on Tuesday. For some stupid reason I sent a message to my two running friends, HMF and DVM (vet friend) when they released the theme for the Little Rock Marathon...."THE 80'S" and asked them how much fun they thought that would be. Long story short, I booked the hotel. It isn't until 1 March so there is plenty of time to put off training. I think I will sign up for Galloway training again since I literally haven't ran in 4 years. I would walk it though and not feel bad about it but I still need some training. The last time I thought I would like to start running again I felt really bad about how slow I was and decided it wasn't worth the effort but now I have friends involved and I'm the one with the gov id to get the federal rate so looks like I will suck it up and start training. I can't decide if I'm excited or not. I will talk to my trainer on Tuesday.

One of my dad's sister's passed away yesterday. It wasn't unexpected but I know my dad is taking it hard. Of the 10 kids there are only 3 left now. They aren't having services but they will have a family get together/celebration of life party in the next few weeks. My cousin that my parents raised is planning on coming in and I look forward to seeing her. She is so much like my baby sister, I miss her so much and we always have a blast when she is here and I spend a ton of money doing all the things we don't normally get to do since I only see her once every few years. In the course of notifying everyone about my aunt passing my bat shit crazy cousin that is pretty much cut off from most of the family posts something on FB about the loss to the family. This crazy bitch literally filed an order of protection against the aunt that passed away because the aunt was asked to live with my uncle (her brother) to help take care of his infant grandson (mom in prison...that's a little bit of the crazy from that little branch of the family tree). If I remember right BSC cousin pepper sprayed the aunt while she had the baby in her arms. The fact that said baby is now 19 and lived with the aunt that just passed away speaks volumes about who actually cared for him. Anyway, I was so pissed off. I posted that my aunt's kids had asked that nothing be put out on FB because she has grandchildren in college that live away and they wanted to make sure everyone knew. She pretty much posted back that she has no connection to any of them and wanted to ask for prayers for my other aunt. I so wanted to put something snarky up asking if that protection order expired or something petty but I let it go. I know she just put that up for attention. I need to delete her but she is crazy enough that someone in our immediate family needs to keep an eye on her. My mom and sister both have her blocked for good reason. I could write a book on that crazy.

So on to natural disasters, lol. I worked 45 hours in 3 days at the sandbag command center from 7pm until 7:30 am. Thankfully the water started to recede pretty quickly after a couple of days of no rain upstream. It was exhausting and it was way harder to come back from that shift then it was to go to that shift. The flood was pretty devastating to the area, we got lucky and no one from my immediate family was effected. My parents were in the path of a small tornado the Saturday before Memorial Day. They were without power for 3 days and sustained about $10,000 (minorish) damage to their house. Not sure how long it will take to get someone out to fix it. The important thing is everyone is safe.

Weight loss efforts has been ok. I am about 118 and am fine here. I bought a pair of size 2 shorts at Old Navy. They were on sale and Bailey was with me so I didn't try them on. They fit but I like the 4's better as I like my jeans pretty loose. I had planned on wearing them to Tulsa Tough but I didn't get to go with Z in the picture. I hope I can still wear them next year. OH, in totality unrelated news they announced that there is going to be an Ironman in Tulsa next year, I am way too excited for someone that has no aspirations to ever participate in an IM. I will either volunteer or see if the lake office needs me to help them because it is going to be HUGE. Did you know it cost a minimum of like $700 for registration fees?

I haven't updated on A in awhile and that is mostly because he is doing really well. HMF got a new job with a nice salary and her husband quit his job to be a stay at home dad. Although this has been a little confusing for A, which can cause some behavioral issues, he is handling it pretty well. HMF is super stressed as the only income for the family but I think she will feel a little better when thing settle down. A has discovered hockey and he is a natural. He tried out for a competitive team and made it (he has only been skating since Christmas) and it has done so much for his self esteem. This is another source of stress for HMF because it is super expensive. For one season it is around $5,000. She started a gofundme, which I am generally not a fan of but in this case I sent them what money I could afford. I am pretty sure his grandparents will make sure he has the money to get on the team but I want to make sure and do my part. I am kind of looking forward to watching him play in August. I will continue to help support however I can because I know it means a lot to A.

I have more but I think I will end it here and not bore you to tears. I will add all the pictures to the bottom of my sandbag days, tornado damage and Zorro/Bailey.