Vet bills and working out

Lots going on.

Took my adorable, 4 year old Golden Retriever to the vet Saturday for a vaccine, to get some more flea/tick green stuff, and while we're at it, I figured he'd get a check up. He has been drinking more water than usual, panting in the middle of the night, and just recently limping a little bit. He also has a cut over his eye that he keeps scratching that's not healing very well. So after a few minutes on the internet, I've decided that he either has hypothyroidism or something called Cushing's disease. I decide to get his bloowork done, they treat his eye, test his poop & pee, check for Lyme's disease, etc. $340 later, I get the phone call that his bloodwork is totally normal and he's probably pulled a muscle in his leg and just extra thirsty from all this heat and I should really have him wear one of those humiliating Elizabethan collars to keep him from scratching the cut on his eye so it can heal. Why must these little, incidental ailments hit all at once and cause me to jump to a serious diagnosis? I don't like that one bit! He looks totally pathetic with that stupid collar on. Grateful that he is fine, but I'd really like my $300 bucks back, please!

Since this blog is really supposed to be about how I'm going to get back into shape, I should probably let you know how that's going. Oh right, NOWHERE! After completing 11 weeks of P90X last summer, looking fabulous and swimming in my size 6's, I quit smoking (very awesome) and stopped working out (not so awesome). I spent the last half of 2009 and the first half of 2010 yo-yo-ing, doing a little bit of exercise here and there, but nothing consistent. I have recently fallen in love with 600lb Gorilla-branded ice cream cookie sandwiches (360 calories a pop) and rediscovered the Rita's Cherry Gelati. I have no clue how many calories in one of those, nor would I like to know. Now that I'm tipping the scales, still not smoking and squeezing into my 8's and 10's, I decided to get back on the P90X wagon starting tomorrow. This way, even if I can't stop the indulgent sweets as a substitute for the cigarettes, at least I'll burn some calories. I have a friend at work that's been doing P90X for about a month now and she's looking fabulous and feeling great and I'm so jealous! I am going to do my best to workout in the mornings and stop feeling like a slug. I am also going to update this blog more frequently in an attempt to keep me motivated.

PS Update as I'm writing this: I also vow to never let my son go on the treadmill by himself anymore (he decided to run at 10mph and bit it just now while I was up here on the computer - I just went down to scold him for putting it up too high only to find him on the ground with some serious "burns" on his knees and tears in his eyes.) Instead of my knee-jerk reaction of "told you so", I set him up in front of the TV with frozen veggies on each knee. I'm thinking I'm disqualified from the Mother of the Year award. Oh well, I was never even nominated!

So here's to healthy dogs, consistent workouts and no treadmill wipeouts. Carry on!

The World According to my 5-year old.

5 years ago today, we welcomed Elliana Rose Scherer to this world. She was a schedued C-section at 37 weeks and was a whopping 7 lbs 15 oz. I imagine if she went full term she would have been just as big as her 9lb 4 oz brother.

I took the day off from work today so we could spend some time together. I try to do that for both kids on their respective birthdays. So once we got Braedon off to school, Ells and I headed to the pediatrician for her annual well-visit. She was bouncing around the waiting room telling the receptionists that her Daddy "sent" her a note for her birthday. In actuality, my husband "left" her a note on the kitchen counter since he normally is up and out in the mornings before the rest of us even get out of bed. Chris has also wrapped a few presents I'd left on the counter the night before. Ells told everyone that her "Dad" got her some presents. The way she put it, it sounded like Daddy doesn't live with us and I just couldn't let that stand. So I corrected her (out loud) several times, since she repeated the story more than once to anyone who would listen.

On the way there I asked if she had brushed her teeth. She said no, and asked if we could go back home before her visit. I just let her know that she'd be fine and although she need not announce that fact that she hadn't brushed her teeth, she should answer all of the doctors questions honestly. Once in the room with the nurse, the first thing out of her mouth was that she hadn't brushed her teeth. Then she told the nurse that she didn't want anyone cutting her neck, because if that happened she would die. I'm sitting there thinking, get me out of here, now! Later on, the doctor asked Ells if anyone in her house smokes. After a long uncomfortable pause, she said, "My mom." I quickly interjected stating I quit smoking last August. Then Ells declared that her brother smokes. I ask, "Do you even know what that means?" She gave me a puzzled look and said, "Isn't that like fire?" ugh. I'm pretty sure that everyone in the office is now convinced that everyone in the house chain smokes, except for Dad, because he doesn't even live with us!

The day has only just begun. We are going to have lunch with Mom-Mom Schiavelli, my grandmother, and then off to her pool party this evening with 50+ people - Yikes! What was I thinking? I'm sure Elliana will give me more blog-worthy material the rest of today and for years to come. I'll keep sharing. Love you Ells.

Day 3 Ouch & Grumble

I’m well into my 3rd full day of healthy living and I’m sore and hungry. I’ve been doubling up on workouts and my food intake and been very “clean”. Lots of lean meats, fish and egg whites. Only complex, high-fiber carbs and lots of water.

I made the fatal mistake of getting on the scale last night. I need to try and avoid the scale at all costs. It’s hard not to see progress in the form of numbers on a scale, even though I know that I am doing well and on my way. Over the past few months my weight has been creeping up to about 150. I was 135 at my lowest point last summer after 12 weeks of P90X. To have gained it all back and then some in less than a year really sucks.

What’s worse, I got rid of all my size 10’s last July vowing I’d never need them again and guess what – I need them. I didn’t just move them to the spare room closet, I removed them from the house, donated them, threw them away, they are GONE. May I remind you that I’m only 5’2” tall? 15 pounds on my frame could mean the difference between and size 10 and a size 4!. So I’m squeezing into my 8’s and I only bought maybe 2 pairs of 10 jeans just to get me through Spring. Actually, that strategy has probably worked out for me since I can’t stand how tight and uncomfortable everything is. It may be exactly what I needed to get my head back in the game.