My Deviled Egg Eatin' Dog

I have two dogs. One Jack Russell and one huge "SPCA Special" as I call him. He is a mix of who knows what. He was rescued from the SPCA about an hour from here. He was taken to his 2nd home that we know of, which was my co-workers house. "WE" got him when she had had enough of him, chewing and destroying her house. He is part Lab and part Great Dane that we know of for sure. When we first got him, I did not think we were going to make it with him. If you have read the book about "Marley," well, I think our "Luther" is related to him. After almost 4 years we have grown to love him dearly. Today, we were coming home from Carson's opthamology appointment (which is another long story) and I turned down the alley when I noticed two kids poking at my dog with a long stick over the fence. I was immediately furious! I slammed on the gas and the horn, trying to get there as fast as possible and get their attention. I rolled down my window and told the boy to leave my dog alone. His friend thought it was hilarious that he had been caught. My blood was boiling! I may not have stressed how HUGE Luther is. He weighs almost 100 lbs and has these long legs, that when he jumps it's very intimidating. My mind was racing. Ya know, if my dog had broke the fence down and my dog had done something to that kid, who would have been reasonable? US of course! That makes me furious! They come down so hard on dog owners when they bite kids, but I bet if dogs could talk we would find out the truth about what provoked them. I know not all cases, but some. This would have been one of them. My dog was soooooo wound up! His hair was standing on edge along his back, like a cat. Who knows how long they had been there. I would like to think not long, but he was so wired up. I should have followed the boys, but my priority was to check on my dog. I feared finding him bleeding, or wounded. Amazing, how we become so attached to our animals. He thankfully was not hurt that I could see. I kept him in the rest of the afternoon. In the evening it was BEAUTIFUL out and I decided he needed to go run around. There is an elementary school behind our house. They have a small fenced in area that I sometimes let the dogs run around in. It's about the size of 4 backyards, so I guess not that small. We were leaving the school and I noticed Luther was not on his leash anymore! OMG! Needless to say he got to run more than I had planned. We finally chased him down and took him for a ride in my husbands Camry. Luther is so big, that his butt was in the seat and his legs hanging over the edge and his head looking out the windshield just like a person! It was hilarious! We had some good laughs with him this evening. I call him my deviled egg eatin' dog, cuz for some reason he LOVES deviled eggs. Guarantee a few will be missing if you leave your plate unattended. Today was just a reminder of how far we have come with him. I know if his previous owners could see him now, they would definitely want him back. He is our gentle giant. Thank God for the dog angels that watched out for him while we were not home.
Finally, Finally, Finally! I did it! I made it to the gym THREE time this week. I was so wiped today, I took a ginormous nap! Yee-ha for me! Ok, next I need to work on the "nutrition" portion of this healthy lifestyle as well as getting myself to the gym. Notice I said nutrition and not DIET! ok, just checking.

15.5 lbs to go!

This is not a goal for me, but a goal for my workout partner! She said when she loses 15.5 more lbs she will have reached a personal goal and wants to take a "girls getaway" trip! The best part is I get to come along! Yee-ha! You bet I'm calling her to get to the gym as much as possible now. Truth be told, I have only been away from the hubster and kids only ONCE! Next month is our 13th Anniversary. I know some people can't even grasp that thought. A few years ago my BFF and I went on a getaway and it was a blast! We rode waverunners and did whatever we wanted when we wanted! It was so much fun! Then, she got pregnant..... see what happens when you go away and come back! So, now that she has a lil one we have not gone anywhere. I hope hoping to change that soon. Wait, not so true. She broke her leg and that's when she got pregnant. Her husband said, it's cuz he didn't have to chase her anymore! I had planned a trip to Vegas for my ahem... 21st Birthday!~
LOL It got cancelled cuz my GF in New York renigged on me! Actually, everything happens for a reason, cuz we would have been off today and her Dad had unexpected major heart surgery today. I guess Divine intervention saved us the unrefundable airfare. I stepped on the scale and just hate it when that needle points in the opposite direction. I'm taking my scale in to get checked, it MUST be broken. Yeah, right! I have a mantra, '08 will be Great! I keep telling myself this and trying to keep a positive attitude. No matter how high gas prices get!
"I" really need to set a goal. My hospital decided that we must all wear the same color scrubs. JOY! I refuse to buy new scrubs in the current size I am in. I have to move, move, move. How I wish I had personal connections to Jilian the trainer from The Biggest loser! I so need her type of training. The tough love kind.

Rosacea

Wow! I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. Ok, I did get to the Dr. Long story short, his practice s*cks. He prescribed two creams and oral antibiotics (which I have tried before with my PCP) His diagnosis was SEVERE Rosacea with cystic acne. He swears it's not the makeup. Ok, dude. Time will tell. I went on Wednesday and my face feels a bit better. No more burning, but the itching remains. It looks 1/2 a hair better. So at least we are moving in the right direction. I was pretty bummed about the rosacea issue. I know my hormones are all screwed up, which just makes matters worse. I actually went out of my way to get to the gym and attend a class at a different location, just cuz I like that instructor. It was worth it. My body felt it, that's for sure. I love being outside and with this rosacea it is going to be challenging this summer. I am a sun goddess. I love to turn crispy brown. LOL I may have to find some other form of destruction. I know people with skin cancer, and I am not poking fun. It is not a good habit. Neither is smoking, drinking, or overeating for that matter. I even made it to church today. Pastor spoke about "livin like a dog" and it was very interesting how dogs go back and eat their vomit, and we continue to do destructive (addictive) behaviors. Of course, I have done his sermon no justice, but hope you get the jest. As you can see my brain is bouncing around tonight. I'm hittin the hay, so I can get to water class in the am. Oh yea, guess I should mention I had a major moment of weakness and baked brownies. I did call my neighbor and her BF to come over and have brownies sundaes so they would vanish quicker. It worked, they are all gone, so I had my portion and no more temptation.

What People Say.

Sometimes you just can't believe what comes out of a person's mouth, can ya? I know I have mentioned my latex allergy before. Well, what I may not have mentioned is that I am currently discovering that I am having issues with makeup. There seems to be something in them that "resembles" the chemical make up of a latex protein. My body does not know how to tell the difference. My face is taking a toll. I look like a teen going through puberty twice. I have NEVER had skin issues. Never had blemish's in high school, or later. Well, I am paying now. My reaction looks like I have been burned (redness) along with what looks like acne. Maybe part of it is, but not all of it. It hurts like the dickens, and acne doesn't hurt like this. It itches, it burns. Anyway, I was at work and this housekeeper begins to inquire about what is going on with my face. Now, mind you, I don't know her very well. I raise my children to value people and respect them. I know you may have read the email about the teacher that gave the question about extra credit if they could name the housekeepers name. I like to be friendly to all. I always say hello to her, move out of her way, if it will help her clean. She has a job to do, as I. I have never discussed anything further with her, other than how are you? So, she turns to me and says, "What is wrong with your face? It looks bad! You have an allergy or something?" Now I am a blink away from tears, people! I about wanted to die. I have tried making appointments with dermatologist and apparently it is a booming practice and availability is months away. I have been trying everything under the sun, to try and fix it. So, needless to say, it has been a down weekend. I am now SUPER SELF CONSCIOUS about this. I finally have an appointment this coming week. Wish me luck!
Finally, my butt continues to grow. Very frustrating! I have decided I need help. This week I am looking into programs like WW, Jenny Craig, Nutra Systems etc, to see what I think will fit me best. I saw a friend recently that got the lapband and has lost 75 lbs! Wow, good for her! We all want that instant gratification. I'm at a low. This is the time I have to dig deep.

Update

Just a quick update. My brother had surgery today, for a skin graft on his heel. The plan is to have him go through at least 2 more weeks of IV antibiotics, for a total of 6 weeks.
I spoke to the rehab lady and Spaghetti and Meatball are doing well. Meatball will have 5 days of antibiotics before being released. I think she is planning on releasing them together. That will be nice, as they were found together. Well, gotta hit the hay. I don't know why I can't get to bed at a decent hour the night before I work. 4:30 am comes early!

Farewell "Spaghetti Jones" and "Meatball"

It is with a very heavy sad heart that I write this post. I am not sure if I mentioned that we found 2 baby bunnies a week before Easter. We took them in, as we did not think they would survive, because they were so little. I did not plan on keeping them. I had always heard rabbits attract mice, they smell and are a pain in the butt. I can honestly say 2 out of the 3 are correct. I did not notice any mice while they were around. Once the children gave them names, I knew I was doomed. They named them "Spaghetti and Meatball" because one was skinny and well the other one was not. As time went on, of course as is with most pets, guess who handled a major portion of their care. Yep, the M O M. I did some research and was getting them to be played with, slowly working on introducing them to our dogs and then I got real. I knew it was going to be too much, and we were not being fair to the rabbits. I know you have heard of people that have "vibes" with animals. Call me crazy, but I feel I am that way. If I did my anatomy check correct spaghetti is a female and meatball is a male. Spaghetti is a firecracker. She would bite, and would only settle down for me. I did manage to get her calm while holding her, and she only bite me once. If anyone else tried to get her, I could guarantee they would get bit. She was also, the wild one. Always jumping, wanting to explore and looking around. During my time with her, I added to her name "Jones" and she became "Spaghetti Jones." It somehow suited her.

I spoke to the kids and we decided that we needed to release them back into their habitat. It didn't work. I did what I read about and the rabbits didn't go any further than about 4 ft in almost 5 hours. It started to get dark and we were under a tornado watch, so we brought them back in. I thought we would try again this weekend. Saturday came and we noticed that Meatball was bleeding. Of course the children get very concerned. Being the nurse, I examine him and find his foot and hind leg have been injured. His hind leg was pretty bad. I cleaned him up and tried to put a bandage on, but he would have nothing to do with it. From the get go, I sensed something was different about him. He was a cuddle bug. He would cuddle into me and I could hold him for hours. He never bit. I feel both rabbits knew their names. They would raise their ears when we said them. It was so cute. Back to Meatball, sorry. We separated them, cuz I thought I had seen them fighting earlier that morning. I put Meatball on a towel and we gave him water and his pellets and a carrot, and I was afraid he was not going to be alive in the morning. Thank God, he was. We found Spaghetti had created a hide out for herself and was completely under the Timothy Hay and we could not see her at first glance. Talk about giving me a heart attack. I did try to find a rabbit vet Saturday night, and that was a learning experience in of it self. The closest one was over an hour away. JOY. When we got home from church today, I got back online and looked into rescue facilities for rabbits. I managed to find some organization that had 24 hour volunteers. I called and left a message. They called back and connected me with a "rehab-er" not too far away. We had a family meeting, and explained to the kids we had to do what was best for the rabbits. Interesting how even in a not light hearted situation, out of nowhere comes something funny. As we were discussing the plan, my daughter says, "Mom, you keep talking rehab, like Lindsey Lohan and Brittany?" I really needed that! Perspective of an 8yo. We all came to agreement. I could not bring myself to go drop them off. My husband and son went. The lady that took them, said we could call and check on Meatball tomorrow to see how he was doing. She did compliment us and said they looked in good condition and had been well taken care of. I will miss them. I already do. Doing the right thing, really s*cks sometimes.

Doctors going High-Tech

When did this happen? My children had a dentist appointment today. To most mothers this would not be a big issue. In our family it is. I have a SEVERE latex allergy. This office happens to use latex gloves, so even sitting in there waiting room is dangerous for me. There are many things that I can't do. The list just keeps growing. It is very frustrating. Anyway, usually my husband takes them. Today he was not able to take off work. Everyone knows how hard it is to re-schedule an appointment. I talked to the kids and decided they were old enough and okay about going in without me. They have been with this office for several years now. We get to the parking lot and I jot a few notes down, for them to hand to the dental hygienist. Off they go. It's about 45 minutes now. I have made phone calls, cleaned my purse, thoroughly inspected my eyebrows with the nice mirror and light on the sunshade thing, and even took a power nap. I decide I should at least maybe stand out in the hall. I walk up to the office and it has gone through a major re-model. Immediately through the glass windows, my eyes go to the LARGE plasma TV mounted on the wall, playing Alvin and the Chipmunks. Excuse me! Wait. Against the wall, is a massive "pottery barn" type shelf. The entire wall! It has pretty baskets and nice breakable decorations, that of course all match. The thing looked like something right off the pages of pottery barn. After picking my mouth up off the floor, I did not see my kids sitting anywhere in front of the "movie" screen. I walk over to the other side of the office. There are THREE computer screens. THREE video game systems. XBOX 360, Playstation 2, and a gamecube. Okay, now in a curious robotic stage, I keep walking just to see what else they have done. There is a "coffee station." There are about 5 different types of coffees. At this point I'm thinking I will never get them out of there! I did not see them anywhere in there. It was actually pretty outside so I went to go sit on a bench while I waited for them. A few minutes later, they come walking out, accompanied by their dental hygienist. She was very nice and went over there visit with me. I was impressed that she walked out to update me. I talked about their office renovations and she informed me they are working on being a latex free office! Woo Hoo The only thing missing from there was an actual Starbucks. When did this happen? Dr's catering in such a way to this generation. What about us Mom's?? When am I going to walk into the OB/GYN office and say, where do I sign up for my pedi/mani while I wait?? Or, are there any slots open for a chair massage? It's just not fair people! Just not fair!
I'm afraid to wonder what next?

Setback

I'm not sure why. I have not been to the gym in almost THREE weeks. This morning I had phone calls from 2 different people asking me if I was going to the water class. I didn't. I got back in bed and went to sleep. My husband drove the children in to school for me, so I got a morning at home. Alone. It very rarely happens, and I felt I did not want to rush off and have to be someplace. I did have my bag packed. As the bible says, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. It has been an interesting week. I have been on a MASSIVE re-organizing spree. I have even done my GF's daughter's room, and today we did one of her hall closets. I have done three closets and two rooms in our house. I don't know if it means, I'm trying to get things "mentally" straight. I am one of these people that can't function if my surroundings are a mess.
This week is also difficult thinking about my brother. I keep praying for him. Just like I am the only one that bring about the "umph" in me to get going, he is the only one to bring it out of himself. I just pray it happens soon. A co-worker of mine, has a husband with liver cancer. He received a liver transplant today. Praise God! It is amazing what some people are dealing with.
We all have our cross to bare.