Can't Help Falling in Love

Click on the picture to get a close-up!

 

That's my froggie!

No, that's MY froggie!

Sometimes nothing feels better than a hug from a good friend...

xoxoxo

ATM

Bringing Back a Little Spontaneity

I can't remember the last time Hubby and I decided to be spontaneous.  When you have kids who have issues, everything but a trip to the store needs the logistical military planning of a major invasion.  Even though the guys are grown, it's still nearly impossible to just drop everything and take off.

Spontaneity?  What's that?

Last year at about this time, Hubby and I drove across the state to pick up a toy Aussie Shepherd puppy.  Little Guy was away at camp, and Big Kid and Kitty came to watch the house and dogs.  We had planned this trip far in advance, working with the breeder and working our schedules around this.

Matilda, our large Aussie, is aging.  She has doggie lupus, and some hip problems which have been exacerbated by rolling around with and playing with Maddie, the puppy.  We had discussed getting another puppy to keep Maddie entertained and as a companion for when Matilda finally and inevitably goes off the the Rainbow Bridge (why oh why don't dogs have the same lifespan as people?)  We had just planned on doing it in another year.

I saved the website of Maddie's breeder and look at it occasionally to see the new puppies.  I have to admit it, I'm a puppy junkie.  I looked at it Friday afternoon, because we had just brought Matilda back from the vet with a ton of meds to ease her hips and had puppies on the brain.

And promptly fell in puppy lust.

Called the Hub and said, "what if?"  He looked at his schedule and said, "well, I might be able to get away August 15th."  So I called the breeder to see if the puppy was still available.  He was, but just...there was a lady in another city who was interested, but had been kind of dithering for a couple of days.  Maybe she thought the breeder would come down in price, or just wasn't sure an active puppy would fit in her lifestyle.

Saturday morning, we got a very early call from the breeder.  The other lady had called the night before and asked if she could drive down to see the puppy.  If we wanted him, she would take a deposit from us and hold him (these puppies go incredibly fast).

I looked at Hubby and said, "do you have to work today? What about tomorrow?"  He didn't, so we bribed the Aspiring Adult to sacrifice his day off to stay with Little Guy, and talked Big Kid and Kitty into spending the night.  It took all of 10 minutes. 

Then we threw ourselves into the car and went on a road trip (6-hour drive).

We made it back on Sunday night with a new addition to our family.

Everybody say hi to Mad Max!  All 7 pounds of him. ;-)

 

 

 

Of course, on Monday morning, I woke up with a total "WTF did I DO?" moment.  LOL

But after 10 minutes of playing and holding the little guy (he's completely potty trained and went right outside to do his business and went off to play with his new pack), I knew that at least THIS time, spontaneity was a wonderful thing!

Traveling with Diabetes

Since I was diagnosed in January, I haven't eaten out a whole lot.  Mostly because I can't have any sugar, bread, rice, pasta or potatoes.  I also have to be very careful what kind of fruit I eat as well, dammit.

 

The biggest problem seems to be a side effect of the meds I'm taking.  The smell of cooking meat makes me ill.  It doesn't matter what it is...bacon, pork, steak...I can't walk past the deli of my grocery store (where they roast and fry chicken) without wanting to retch. 

 

I guess the upside to that is that it's easy to keep the weight off.  I'm now on the low side of normal for my height.  In fact, my doctor wants me to lose MORE so that I'm on the low low side of normal.

 

I said, "you have GOT to be sh*tting me!"  Alas, no.  Supposedly it will help the diabetes, because I'm on the brink of needing insulin vs. the pills that I'm taking. 

 

But where is it going to come from?

 

Seriously, there ain't nothing left.  I have absolutely no fat on my legs, my butt, my hips or my stomach.  Well, there's probably about 10 pounds of excess skin all over, but that will take about a year to go back as much as it's going to go back.  And he isn't willing to count that.

 

The only thing I have left is boobs.  I'm a C-cup for the first time since I was 12.  If I lose any more weight, it's all going to come from there.  Then I'll have two empty sacks I can toss over my shoulders and wear like a mink stole.

 

Hubby and I went to a ski resort for a conference he had to attend.  I got to have some time alone sans kids and dogs which was wonderful.  I brought some food in a cooler that I'm allowed to eat, just in case I had trouble finding something suitable.

 

Anyhoodie, there's a big outlet complex nearby that I was excited to visit, because at that point, I only had 2 pairs of pants that fit and 3 tops.  For the first time in a very very long time, I'm able to wear regular sizes.

 

I ate breakfast at about 7am and headed off.  You can't park in the complex, so there is a lot of walking involved.  I shopped at a few places, bought a couple of fabulous outfits, and walked around for about 3 and a half hours, not really being aware of the time.

 

I went back to the hotel around 1, and as I was walking down the hall to my room, suddenly I face-planted myself and flailed around on the floor.  There was no strength in my legs whatsoever.  WTF?

 

Got myself to my room, and realized I was suddenly starting to feel really ill.  I had also cut my hand somehow and was bleeding all over this nice upholstered chair.  Gah!  I took my blood sugar and it was 70.  Holy crap!

 

After I got something to eat and stopped the bleeding, I grabbed a washcloth and scrubbed the seat cushion on the chair.  Figured that if I didn't get it all out, I could always flip the cushion.

 

I did it experimentally and yikes!  It looked like someone had sacrificed a chicken on the other side.  There was a brown/red splotch the size of a salad plate with spatter.  Did somebody get murdered in there?  And this was supposed to be such a nice place!  ;-) 

 

I scrubbed harder and got all the blood out.  Unless of course, CSI came looking.

 

It is really HARD to find stuff to eat when you're on the road.  I ended up eating practically nothing but soup and salad the whole trip.  But now I have a couple of pieces of candy in the car just in case my blood sugar drops again.

 

So much to learn...