My good boi

Bailey graduated from kindergarten!!

Workouts are going well.  My PT has gotten very creative so it is hard to figure out what to call the things she has me doing.  The whole reason I was doing that was to have some backup workouts just in case.
Some of the things we did last night:
30 second each side -
step ups
standing leg raise with band
side suffle
some strange hybrid where you are on your hands and knees (but with your knees barely off the ground) straighten to a push up and back again.

suitcase carry
plank position but doing battle ropes one each arm 30 seconds.

plank with alternate leg raise (on elbows)
plank on knees but pushing one arm out with slider.

I will never remember how to do these again but I am convinced she sets up at night thinking of fresh ways to torture.  She finds it funny, I do not but it is very effective. 

I found out last week that I will be going to St. Paul the end of April.  I have never been and for some reason I feel the urge to visit the MOA.  Not sure if it will really be that much fun solo but I only plan on going the night I get there.  I don't plan on spending a lot of extra time there.  I need to do an overnight trip to make sure the kiddos will get along.  Dennis hasn't had to do the daycare routine yet.  I am sure he will be fine but will I?

I am less than a pound from my first weight loss goal!!

biggest loser

Guess who is the official winner of the workplace weight loss challenge?!?!  I almost didn't participate but a coworker was going down to weigh in and we were talking so I just went with him.  I couldn't remember what my start weight was but I knew I had lost in the 8 weeks.  I was last to weigh in and the guy over it told me I had to beat 6%....over 8% lost baby!!!  The reward for my efforts, 59 minutes of leave 😆

Marcy is eating better but still back to her normal self.  I have found that chicken deli meat works wonders in getting her pills down.  I had some leftover nuggets from Tuesday that I had set out and after I gave her her afternoon pill she went sniffing for them.  Well without thinking I gave her a few.  At this point I don't think it makes much difference.  Her liver enzymes are pretty elevated, not off the charts but high.  I called to ask the vet about bringing her in to get her vaccines that she needs and she told me that it probably wasn't necessary to stress her out. 

I made it to the gym twice this week for training!!  I found out Tuesday that my Thursday group changed times so I don't have a group anymore.  They meet at 5:30, which I could do but with the baby shark aka Bailey it is just easier to wait until Dennis gets off work and go at 6:30.  Well I am almost out of sessions and I really can't afford to buy one on one training and group training sessions, hell, I can't really afford the one on one period.  Anyway, we talked about it Tuesday and couldn't figure out how to go about it but we both came up with the same solution of coming in at 6 and doing 30 minutes with the group and 30 minutes on my own.  She gave me the option of continuing, buying the group sessions and using 2 of them per session (which is about the same price) or just doing 30 minutes.  Although the 30 minutes option sounds appealing, I don't think I get a good workout in that amount of time.  We will see how it works out.  At any rate I bought 20 sessions.  That should hold me over for awhile. 

Work is going really well.  I am finding my groove finally.  I was appointed to a national committee and feel like I finally have something to contribute.  We have an annual work group meeting 29 April - 3 May in Saint Paul, MN.  The next week I have training in Idaho so it will be a stressful few weeks.  I haven't left Bailey overnight yet.  I probably need to do that for a trial run to let him get used to having daddy in charge.  I know he will be fine but he is my little baby.  Truman and Marcy don't need me anymore and are used to the routine.  I don't want to think about leaving Marcy for two weeks in the condition she is in but we are taking it one day at a time right now. 

I would write out my gym routines but I can't for the life of me remember and she is having me do some strange multi-muscle things that surely don't have names this side of hell..

so many things

It feels like it has been a year since I posted last. 

Bailey made it through his neuter surgery with flying colors and never slowed down.  He was first on the chopping block so he was done fairly early.  I got a call from the vet about 11 saying he was wide awake and unhappy about being in the kennel but fine..."oh, and he chewed through his IV".  HE WHAT?  He said that he might be ready to go home about noon since he popped right up from anesthesia but he would be fine if he needed to stay longer.  I have a weekly web seminar on Thursday's and our network blocks some of the functions of the web meeting so I decided to just go home, pick up Bai, and do the training from there.  It worked out well.  He was jumping around like he normally does at the vet's office.  One of the other vets was laughing at him and telling me that she was 100% sure he went through the surgery, she saw "them" come off.  He calmed down when we got home.  Puppies.

I took off on Friday to stay home with the puppy and make sure he didn't hurt himself. 

So I did very little over the weekend that would require me to leave the house.  I did my taxes (so not happy with that) and got some major Truman cuddles.

My dad went in for a PET scan last week and I have kind of gotten to the point where I don't panic every time he goes in.  He has been sick and they stopped all treatment to see if it was a reaction to the keytruda type medication he had been getting for 7 months.  He has been pretty sick.  Anyway, the scan was like Monday and Friday he got a phone call from the clinic telling him he had chemo scheduled for Tuesday.  We all kind of lost it.  He had a doctor's appointment yesterday and we just kind of tried to hold it together until he saw the doctor.  If the cancer had returned and that was how he found out I was going to lose it.  Anyway, I planned on going to the doctor with them and come to find out they "chemo" they were referring to was the immunotherapy "chemo" protocol.  The scans were so much better the last time without the immunotherapy so they told him they were going to discontinue any further treatment.  There is still no signs of the cancer.  I kind of blame my parents for not asking questions when they called for the appointment, but that is just them.  Unlike me, the feel like they shouldn't question the doctor.   Regardless, it all turned out well.

Sunday was pretty stressful as well.  July of 2017 the vet found a large mass on Marcy's, our 12 year old hound mix liver.  The tumor had formed around the major arteries and ducts making surgery very difficult and not guaranteed.  She has always been a little feral, not a cuddley girl and she is extremely nervous away from home so we decided that we would just let her live out her life.  They told us maybe 6 months.  Well she hadn't slowed down, until Sunday.  She is a big eater but showed no interest in food.  I have been giving her canned food at night so I thought maybe she was just being picky.  I tried later to give her a treat and she wouldn't take it, Dennis drove through and got nuggets and she didn't touch them.  She spent most of the day just pacing.  When she did lay down she was breathing rather erratically.  I didn't think she would make it through the night but didn't want to take her to the emergency vet because I was sure they would want to put her down.  It was so bad we discussed which service we would use when she didn't come back from the vet.  Against all odds she made it through the night.  Dennis had to drag her out from under the bed.  When she got up I offered her some of the nuggets from the night before and she chomped them down!!  We had decided I was going to take off work and we would take her to the doctor first thing and of course it snowed for the first time in 2 years and the roads were slick.  Thank goodness Dennis is ex highway patrol and a volunteer firefighter so he has all kinds of training for that kind of stuff.  Anyway, we got her to the vet and she ate a bag of their treats (sorry not sorry) while we waited.  The fact that she ate anything changed our whole course of action.  The vet did blood work and her liver enzymes are very high but not off the charts and her kidney values are low.  The look on the vets face wasn't encouraging but she didn't tell us we needed to make any decisions just yet.  She said that if she hadn't started eating we might be talking hospitalization but they gave her a shot for pain and anti-nausea along with a few prescriptions and sent her home.  We have known for a long time that every day we have with her is a gift.  She seems to be doing better but still isn't eating like herself.  I went tot he store and got some chicken lunch meat and she can't get enough of that.  There are also a few treats that she seems to love so that's what we are feeding her.

After all that Bailey had dog school and I swear he forgot how to walk on a leash.  He did well on most everything except the heel exercise.  Next week is graduation and I am kind of glad.  I need a break.  I have to decide if I want to sign him up for basic, which will start the end of the month.  If we do sign him up we will do Saturday morning, it just seems easier. 

It's been a little bit of a roller coaster of a weekend.  Going to try and go to my group training tonight and get back to my normal routine.

Weight this morning was 124.8 but I honestly don't think I ate yesterday with all the stress.

hump day

I have really started slacking off on exercise.  I did go at all last week and probably won't go this week either.  Last night was my group training and I started having anxiety about it around 2.  I sent her a text and told her I would be stuck at work even though I wasn't.  I won't be there Thursday because Bailey is getting neutered so I just kind of wrote the entire week off.  I have got to stop doing that.  Now I am felling the anxiety you get when you have been gone too long.  It is a vicious cycle.  I did walk the puppy though since we had our last nice day for the week.  It actually started getting cold as we rounded the back of the trail and my ears were frozen when I got home.  It was beautiful when we left.  This is the longest walk Bai has been on to date and he did really well. 

So I didn't go to dog school on Monday either.  I kind of feel he has pretty much learned all there is that they are going to teach this session and getting him out around the other puppies just makes it harder for him to concentrate.  He does well in real life situations (except stay, and that isn't going to happen in a group setting).  We had a big day Saturday as I have learned a lot of big chains are indeed dog friendly and I desperately needed new pants.  I had ordered several pairs of jeans from Old Navy in a size 8 that were too big 🙌 so I needed to exchange them.  Bailey did great, we are still working on not jumping up to great people.

He got to meet the old navy dog and couldn't understand why it wouldn't play.

From there we went to Ross, which has a sign in the window that says "leashed dogs welcome" so we tested that out also.  It was super busy and he was a little apprehensive but I had several people tell me how good he was.  I found two pairs of pants for work and went back to the dog supply area.  There was a lady there setting out dog beds trying to decide which on to get her dogs.  She asked Bailey to help her and sure enough he found one he approved of.

Wasn't so sure why she picked it up and put it in her cart.  He kind of barked his displeasure and, of course, I thought it was adorable.  I picked up some treats and went ahead and opened them (I should have brought some with us) and that helped his focus tremendously as we waited at the long check out.   I mean, I'm not trying to make him into a service dog so his training doesn't have to be perfect...which is good because I let him get away with way too much 😉

Work has been busier than normal, which I love.  I had a little bit of a meltdown Monday but I take that as a good thing as it means I am finally getting comfortable enough in my job to know when people are being ridiculous.  The fact that she got irritated with me for not being able to read her mind didn't spark that "Oh my god I should know this" response, just the are you effing kidding me with that shit thought 😁 

When we got home from running around I left the back door open for a little bit to let the kiddos run in and out in the nice weather.  The started acting really strange so I went outside to see what was going on and the next door neighbor was having a screaming match with his maybe daughter (?)  They are not the best and we don't socialize with them.  They also let their backyard grow over and it has knocked one of the boards over in my privacy fence so I had a front row view for the action.  At one point he shut the door and left her outside, to which she started kicking the glass.  He opened the door and lunged at her so I ended up calling 911 and locking myself in the house.  It took the cops far too long to get there but Dennis came home in the midst of everything and said he could still hear them screaming.  I stayed out of it, I don't need them to know I am the one who called it in.  It made for an interesting day. 

Not much planned for the next several days since Bailey will be healing up and I don't want to leave him and will have to limit his activity.  I am taking off work on Friday.  We have it worked out so he shouldn't have to go back to day care until a week from today.  They will probably keep him with a mellower friend as Nayla, his BFF is crazy. 

OK I have stuff to do.  I am the only Planner here for most of the week and there are several Rangers here who need stuff so I will have another busy day.

Oh, and weight bounced up a little but I am feeling particularly bloated for some reason so I don't think it is a permanent thing, just have to up my water intake.  I was 127 this morning but I think it was up to 128 earlier this week.  I actually ordered a pair of size 4 jeans (super cheap) earlier this week to see how close I am.

computer problems

Nothing like having a Monday on a Friday.  I have been out all week at a conference and today is my first day back in the office.  I think I have restarted my computer 4 times in an hour.  I am waiting for IT to come see what the deal is.  I am on the list to get a new computer next month so maybe they will just bump me up on the list?  On that note, time to backup.

I haven't been to the gym this week, mostly due to the meetings.  I will make up for it next week.  There is a special dance class at the south location of the gym tonight that I thought about going to but it is 1) on the other side of the planet from my house and 2) a "sexy" chair class that wouldn't really be fun if you don't take it with someone you can laugh with.  I really thought about going but nah.

Diet is a mixed bag.  My weight is down to 126, which is 3 pounds from my goal.  I wouldn't mind losing another 5 pound but if it doesn't happen I'm not going to complain.  I am pretty darn happy with my weight loss.  I had a little mishap yesterday that involved chick-fil-a sandwich (without the bread) a few french fries and a soda for lunch and fajita nachos for dinner.  I don't eat that much normally so I'm not going to completely beat myself up over it.  It would have been nice to have had some physical activity to counteract it but I didn't so...  I didn't weigh this morning for obvious reasons. 

I have cut back on the amount of Saxenda I am taking and actually forgot it twice this week.  I would like to cut it back another .06 to make the pen last a little longer but I will give the 2.4 another week to see what happens.  This is not a cheap medication and on the full dose a pen only lasts 6 days.  That pretty much adds up.

Last week I got brave and did my taxes.  I pulled my medical expenses and was shocked to see that I spent almost $8,000 out of pocket last year.  No wonder it seemed like I was always catching up financially.  I know that is due to the shoulder surgery and the fact that my anxiety keeps me from closely examining my bills and questioning charges.  Well fuck that.  I will question every charge from here on out.  I am supposed to have "good" insurance.  In my next life I'm coming back in Denmark or I guess Canada if I want to be less dramatic.

OK, I guess I need to see if I can keep my computer booted long enough to transfer everything to my external heard drive. 

Have a good weekend.

procrastination

I really need to be getting ready for my presentation this week, but seriously there is only so many sign regulations one person can research.  I mean, yeah, signs in parks need to be standard I get it, why does it need to have 27 chapters?!?!?!

So I have been making a conscious effort to eat more.  I decreased the Saxenda dosage and it has helped a little with the nausea.  I'm still not particularly hungry but I don't feel like I will hurl if I eat.  It hasn't been particularly healthy but it also isn't a whole lot of food so it's a start.  The number on the scale is still going down, 127.2.  The smart measuring shorts recommended Old Navy jeans and I found them on sale for $15.  I ordered 3 pair in a size 8 and one pair of curvy 6 (I have really skinny legs).  Since I haven't tried them on, I am a little anxious to see how they fit.  The AE jeans I ordered fit really well and I got lots of compliments the day I wore them.  Jeans that actually fit make a huge difference. 

Hearing Patti talk about getting her nails done gave me nail envy.  I found a vegan nail salon that uses cruelty free products so I made an appointment and got a pedicure (minus the polish since it is too cold for flip flops) and a dip manicure using dip.  They look great.  I am curious to see how the vegan formula holds up.  On the cruelty free note, there are a few products that I am going to try that say on their website that they don't test and they don't sell in China but they aren't listed on any of the approved lists.  I am going to bite the bullet and order and hope the lists just haven't caught up.  I'll be pissed if I learn otherwise. 

I haven't been working out.  I am trying to get my heart medication regulated and it is making me feel like I am going to pass out.  I swear I'm just going to stop taking the medication and just see how it goes.  With the allergy medication it is all just too much.  Not sure why it has to be this difficult to take a simple otc medication. 

We did get some dog walks/training in at the park.  Bailey is doing really well with everything but stay.  We tried to get him out around people more this week, he was nervous but did fine.  I did pick that big baby up at one point in time but there was a flatbed cart and a noisy machine involved and it passed pretty quickly.  We also took him to a restaurant with us and he did amazing!!  Our vet tech told us about this place and it was really great.  The patio is covered with a nice fireplace so it was very warm (almost too warm.  They brought out a bowl of water for the dogs before they even get the drink orders.  Bailey was a little excited at first but finally settled in and laid at our feet.  There were 2 other dogs there and he really wanted to play but once I started giving him little pieces of my hamburger he decided that he could lay at my feet quietly.  We don't normally feed him from the table so he was all about it.  He really impressed me.

 He also enjoyed laying in the sun and watching people walk down the sidewalk.

I really didn't want to take him to dog school yesterday but I did.  We are more than halfway done with it.  He has most of it down, just need to work on stay and that isn't going to happen there, we are also going to have to do it at home. 

I'm supposed to get my hair done this evening but it is also supposed to start snowing so not sure if it will happen.  I will probably take Bai to day care for a few hours since he hasn't been since Friday and will probably have a lot of energy to leave in the house. 

This week is going to go by pretty fast.  Tomorrow and Thursday is the ranger workshop so I won't be in the office.  I am only going to be at the workshop until we break for lunch, then I will go home to sit in on the first community involvement  training they signed me up for.  This will take up at least 2 hours one day a week until July.  I don't hate that, I just hope the course is beneficial. 

Ok I really need to dig into some sign regs.  Don't hate.

Valentine's Day picture