Sunday, November 27, 2011

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

I wasn't able to post this earlier because I was at my sister's house and I actually just chose not to!

I'll take off from the Lions game post.  Linda was supposed to stop by early to get my contributions to the feast so it would be at Laurie's.   I had called her at 7am to get her opinion on my leg, but she felt the same way I did....it was bad, but not bad enough to go to the ER. So she agreed with me waiting to see my regular doc.  I'd had sleeping bags, pillows & my air mattress in the back of the car for a week already.  I hobbled around and got mine & Angel's clothes & stuff together and of course had the Lion's game on.  - Just my opinion....fights in hockey games are MUCH more entertaining than fights in football games.  All they can do is slap each other's helmets.  If they threw any punches, they'd break their hand! 

One of the other studio girls lives on our street, so her Mom was nice enough to both pick up and drop off Angel at home. Then Angel wanted to shower & we headed out to Laurie's.  We had the usual expected stuff for dinner.  Linda makes an amazing banana pudding that apparently is just like one that Grandma (who passed away when I was 2) used to make.  BIL Dave and nephew Jamie were there for dinner, then left.  Their allergies can't handle being in Laurie's house with all the critters. Linda & Mom both left Friday and Angel & I  stayed until Saturday.  I didn't get any pics of everyone at dinner!

 My sheltered family had never heard of planking before - so Angel had to show them.  
That created 3 days of entertainment!

Linda & I working on updating our glass block snowmen. 

 Lisa & Captain and Angel & Princess

 Laurie planking in the yard.  Kisses & Captains wondering "WTF?!?!"

 Angel can plank on horseback!

 Bookends

 Horseback half-planking.
Captain is such a great horse to put up with this & still look cheerful!


 An array of butts walking out to the arena. 


 Jack finally got tired of exploring and settled down near me. 


 Laurie & Kisses

 I was waving a sweatshirt to get Princess to put her ears up.  

 Got Kisses & Captain's attention!


 Laurie planking on horseback.

 Lisa doing English planking.

 This isn't what I think when someone rides without a saddle!

 Sidesaddle


 Glad Princess is easy-going, too!

Kisses enjoying a good scratch!

So otherwise, it was an enjoyable, drama -free weekend.  It felt weird having people keep telling me to get off my feet & such.  However, I must have still been on them too much yesterday.  As soon as we got home, I took advantage of nice weather to put the chenille flying pig and all our Christmas blowmolds out in the front yard.  Then when I undressed to shower, I realized that my ankle was really swollen & bruised.  Angel promptly texted Laurie & tattled on me!  So then I was sent to my bed with a stack of pillows and a bag of frozen veggies (I don't have any ice!).  That killed me because I don't watch that much TV so I couldn't find anything good on!  Once the Red Wings game was over, I was bored until SNL came on at 11:30!! 

But I'll live.
Aaaw!!

Wahh! I missed Nickelback!

Last week was as nuts as I expected.

Monday I just sat in the stands at Ford Field as the dancers learned their choreography.  I have to believe the director was making stuff up as she went, since it changed at least 700 times.  Then after they'd been on the field for a good 2 hours, someone representing Nickelback got the microphone and said that 5 minutes before, the band had called her and instead of doing 3 or 4 snippets of songs, they wanted to do the full version of "When We Stand Together".  I'd never heard it - it's a good song!  I really don't understand WHY people hate on Nickleback.  I don't see what's so horrible about them. And people were signing petitions & stuff because they were signed on to do this show!   Being Canadian isn't a crime, last I checked.  

Side story - I missed the exit leaving Ford Field to go home and we ended up on the surface streets instead of I-75.  Apparently the stretch of Gratiot we were on is NOT the one a person cruises in their car!  But I didn't turn around since I knew it was taking us in the generally correct direction.  Before we even left the field, I told Angel & Maloree to lock their doors & not make eye contact with anyone outside the car.  I finally found a road I knew came right up to Shelby Township.  However, I didn't know it also went right thru the worst part of Detroit's ghetto imaginable!  And of course, TweedleDee & TweedleDum had their faces plastered to the windows, looking at the creepy blight buildings & graffiti.  They noted that there were a lot of "Houses of Prayer" and also auto body shops.  So when Mal called her Mom, she told her we were driving on the Holy Collision Corridor.  They also noted they saw no medical facilities and joked about if you needed an auto body place, you'd probably need more than Jesus to help you survive!   Mal wanted to stop at this really creepy gas station and hug this hobo they saw and Angel waved at another homeless guy sitting under an overpass.  I think they were trying to get us killed!

Tuesday we got to start learning the Mosh Pit.  We had to divide into 2 groups and when we heard a certain line in the song, we were to rush the stage and as the director put it, "BE the party" in front of the stage.  Basically just dance around & clap & have fun - right in front of the stage.  Then at another part of the song, we started going the arm motions, fist pumps, waves, etc as the dancers. It was so much fun!!!

 Our whole group. Angel is in the striped hoodie. 

 The stage.

Corey is from another studio but visited everyone - all the kids just love him!  
He's one of those people who knows no strangers.

 It was Corey's idea to go out on the field & plank.   
He was like the Pied Piper, since all our girls followed him without hesitation!

 Also his idea to spell out LIONS using their bodies. 

Wednesday was dress rehearsal with the band & everything.  Fox was there testing their cameras.  We had to do several full run-thrus so they could get the timing down with the stage set up, performance & stage tear-down. OMG, it was a riot.  Until like the 2nd run thru.  We were waiting for our cue to run out on the field.  I was one of the first 4 in our group to go out - I took off running & felt something pop in the back of my right calf.  I really thought someone had kicked me, but no one was around.  I made my way out to my place & I kept looking at my leg, it felt like something was running down it!  Anyway, I was hobbling the rest of the night.  It sucked.  I even sat out the last run thru, since I couldn't keep up with the rest of the mosh pit!

So Thursday I woke up (I'd slept with a bag of frozen veggies under my calf) but I still couldn't walk.  In fact, I was in tears when I stood up out of bed, since I couldn't put any weight on it at all!  It took a few minutes, but then I could a little bit.  I made the decision to stay home from the game.  I was sad!  I got hold of Terina from the studio to let her know and then Nikki who lives down the street to ask her to drive Angel to the bus with her Shelby.   I really wanted to go and watching it on TV - I so totally would have been on there!!!  I saw quite a few of the other ladies from the studio! 

 Angel all ready for the game!

 This is actually a better video than what was on TV, since you can see the whole field & not just the band.

 I would have been in the group running in on the left 40 yard line..

At least Angel got to do it again.  She had so much fun!  She went 2 years ago for the Motown Tribute, but missed dancing for Kid Rock last year (because she didn't pay attention of the signs around the studio - neener neener!)

You can see the bruising on the back of my calf & around the ankle this morning. 
I don't know why it's bruised!
At least the swelling is down - at this moment anyway!

And yes.  I will be going to the doctor to get it checked out.

Edit:  I did go to the doctor and then to get an ultrasound on my calf.  it was not comforting to lay there and hear the doctor say "Oh My" as soon as she saw it.  I ruptured my plantaris tendon.  From what I Googled, it's a common injury in tennis players, caused by starting & stopping abruptly.  There's nothing they could do for me.  So I've sucked it up and dealt with swelling & really colorful bruising.  Good news is that they don't expect there to be any weakness or recurrences.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Fire Up for Fall - the Finale (late!)

Crazy busy this week - so this will be quick.  I'm at work since I won't have time to do it at home!
I probably mentioned that the girl is dancing at the Detroit Lions half-time show at the Thanksgiving day game with Nickleback.  Anyway.  as soon as I get home, I have tot turn right around and take her to Ford Field to practice.  It was like that last night (which included a non-scenic drive home, because I made a wrong turn and we ended up driving thru a really, really bad part of Detroit - with 2 teenage girls in the car - to get home!!) will be like that tonight and will be even longer for dress rehearsal tomorrow. 


OK, in a nutshell - Lousy.   This has been the craziest fall of my entire life! 

Loss on the scale?  hit or miss.  a couple small losses and a huge gain and another decent loss.
Get out the Wii?  Well, I did get it out one day.  And luckily the snnoying little Wii person was more ga-ga about it being my 300th day than the fact it had been 30+ days since I'd been on it!
Get out walking?  Some, but not as much as I wanted.
Cider & donuts?  Once we got past Halloween - awesome! 
New recipe?  Sadly, none at all. 
Well, at least I pretty much maintained & not gained!

Here is my positive pic. 
This is the majority of the girls from our studio at Ford Field last night. 
Angel is the blonde right in the middle, leaning forward.

This is a close up of the shirts they're wearing.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

And then I forgot!

Yeah, I forgot to post about my weigh in.  It's been crazy for a while & next week will be again!

Thursday was just crazy.  My last post explained that one.  Friday morning, Randy finally got on the road for Arkansas.  The girl & I didn't do a whole lot.  We watched a movie & vegged.  Saturday I went to another craft show with Mom & the sisters.  Then as soon as I got home, I had to get Angel from dance and then meet at the high school to help carpool the JV dance team to another school to watch the Varsity team compete and also get a peek at the teams they'll be competing against.  That was pretty interesting.  But it was pretty late when we got home.  Today we went to see Breaking Dawn and then to get an oil change in the car and to go grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, since I won't have time the rest of the week!

I made the mistake of signing up with the girl to be part of the Detroit Lions Half-Time show on Thanksgiving.  I call it a mistake because we have to be there both Monday & Tuesday from 5-9 PM for rehearsal and then 3-9 for dress rehearsal on Wednesday!   I literally will get home from work, change, grab the cooler & have to leave again.  It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get to Ford Field from my house.  She, along with probably 10 other girls from their studio and 100 or so kids from other studios will be dancing on the field while Nickleback does their thing.

I will be in "the Mosh Pit" with an unknown number of other adults. It's not going to be the head-banging, body-slamming, crowd-surfing chaotic mess that those words bring to mind.....2 years ago at the Thanksgiving Motown Tribute it was located in one section of the bleachers behind a small stage, so when the TV cameras zoomed in on the stage, you can see the people in the Pit doing the same hand motions as the kids on the field.  It looked quite awesome.

So anyway, on Thanksgiving Day, my sister Linda is coming by early to get pick up my contributions to the feast to take to sister Laurie's house where we will probably stay until Saturday morning or so.  We have to pile on buses and leave Ford Field as soon as the half-time show is over, so we probably won't even get to Laurie's until 4ish or so.  I guess that's good that it will cut down on the snacking!


So yeah.  I still have Halloween gels things on my windows and a pile of laundry to fold, but it's all going to have to wait!

So anyway, I lost 2.4 lbs of the 3 I gained last week.  Yay!  That is a step in the right direction!  And everyone loved my little quilted pocket guide cover!  I really need to get back to staying for the meetings.  It just is so convenient to pick the girl up from ballet and go straight to WI, then home - using her as my excuse not to stay for the meeting.  It's really not out of the way to take her home first.  It's just an excuse.  I am just so tired right now that I don't even really care what I do over Thanksgiving.  I promise I won't be a total glutton!

So I probably won't get to post any until next weekend, so HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Doing better!

Yesterday was a rough day.  The house still seems a bit empty, and I'm sure it will for a while.  It's amazing how much presence a mere feline has in one's life.   Actually, I was sitting at the desk earlier this evening and I swear I heard Skeeter.  When he walked in the room with me, a lot of times he'd make a small sound, just to get my attention.  But when I turned around, Maggie was sitting in the doorway, wanting to be fed.

So this is going to be a super busy week!  Randy finally left for Arkansas today.  About an hour ago he was outside Springfield, MO.  I told him if he got a good night's rest last night, I'd be OK with him driving the 16 hours straight thru to Fayetteville.  I know he has the sense to stop if he gets tired. 

Tomorrow I'm going on the second of the annual craft show sprees with Mom & the sisters.  I made arrangements with another Mom to pick Angel up for dance since I know I won't be home yet.   We also plan the Thanksgiving menu & who is bringing what food. Once I get home, I'll have to pick her up and meet the JV dance team at the high school to shuttle a part of the team out to watch the Varsity girls at their first competition of the season.  JV is not competing, they're going to watch and see how it's done.  Most of the girls dance at studios, too.  So they know how to enter & leave a stage, but a gym is different.

Sunday I promised Angel we'd go see Breaking Dawn.  Woo.  I personally think watching Edward & Bella interacting is creepy.  Maybe it's the lack of acting skills, I don't know.  But I will humor her.  And I learned tonight that it is totally uncool for her to be seen with me at the Mall, but it is perfectly OK for me to take her to see Twilight.   Also need to go grocery shopping for Thanksgiving!

Monday & Tuesday as soon as I get home from work, I have to change & get the girl from practice, stop at the studio to pick up Maloree and shuttle them down to Ford Field for the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day game halftime show rehearsals.  Nickleback is the band performing.  They are one of those bands that I have no idea of any of their songs, until I hear one. I should probably check that out. 

Wednesday is dress rehearsal and I'm glad I took a half day off work, since we have to be down there at 3. All three nights we have to be there until at least 9.  Yay.

Thanksgiving Day we have to be at the staging area at like 0930 and get on buses to go to the Field.  They give us lunch & we'll leave as soon as halftime is over.  Then we'll stop by the house to load up the car and the dog and go to Laurie's.  Then we can get stuffed with turkey & goodies and just crash.

Angel will be dancing on the field and I signed up to be in the Mosh Pit.  I seriously doubt its a real body-slamming, crowd-surfing, head-banging mosh pit like one would think.  The studio owner said its simple choreography so we may even be up in the stands. Guess I'll find out soon enough!

But I'll be sure to take my camera so I can hopefully get some good pics!  I'm not a football fan by any means (me like hockey), but it's going to be fun!




Thursday, November 17, 2011

RIP Skeeter, my sweet baby boy.

 I'll post about my weigh in & stuff later.  I'm too upset right now.


Today was a really sad day.  I got the worst call ever from the vet.  Skeeter didn't make it through the night.

~sniff~

Let me back up.  Tuesday evening, he was acting a bit off.  Like he was concerned about something.  He was normally fairly talkative, but he was making loud, odd-sounding howls.  I didn't know what to think, so I spent more time with him and he seemed OK.

Wednesday, he was very lethargic and zombie-ish.  He acted like his tummy hurt.  I checked all my houseplants and none of them looked freshly chewed - heck even if they were - I'd suspect Chester, not Skeet!  I checked the ribbons on the balloon Angel still has floating around her room, since he has been known to chew on those.  Nope.  Still neatly cut.   He came when I called him (slowly) and I lifted him up on the couch next to me to watch the Wings game.  He literally didn't move.  Not even the end of his tail.  I just sat & petted him until I went to bed.  I left him on the couch since he seemed comfortable.

Thursday he seemed a bit perkier, but I still called the vet and got him an early appointment.  She wanted to keep him for x-rays and to take some blood for tests.  OK.  She called me later in the afternoon and said he wasn't happy with them (he never was!) and they could only get a tiny blood sample and the x-rays showed a blockage in his urinary tract.  Poor guy couldn't pee!  No wonder he hurt!  So she catheterized him and flushed his bladder with saline and then was going to put him on fluids and something to reduce the inflammation in that area.  She also said she was going to give him a little something to calm him down so he could rest and relax and that she'd call me in the morning.

So when she called me this morning, she told me that they ran the most important tests on the small blood sample they got & the levels of these certain chemicals (I forget the 3 she rattled off ) were so high, they were off the scale.  And that's when she dropped the news on me.

She said cats tends to hide when they are in pain, so he may have been hurting for a while and it just got to be too much, so that's when he started talking more.  Apparently the sedative was enough to help him go peacefully.

Randy was supposed to leave for Arkansas today.  So he was still home when I called him.  He went to the vet to get Skeeter, since I sure didn't want him cremated. I was still at work and for once, the office grapevine worked in my benefit.  Geri apparently heard me say "Oh No" and saw me grab a box of Kleenex and run out onto the dock.  She in turn told my boss, who was waiting inside the door when I went back inside.  I told her what happened & she told me to go home if I needed to.  So I did.

Randy had him in the garage when I got home.  He was still in the crate, wrapped up in a blue cloth that had a piece of tape with his name and hearts drawn on it.  We chose a nice spot in the back yard for his final resting spot.  He's under some pine trees and nothing will grow there, so I plan to find a nice statue or stone to put his name on.   We got the area dug out, then waited for Angel to get home from school.  She had a half day today, so we didn't have to wait long.

I admit to be mildly creeped out.  So was Randy.  He brought him out of the garage and handed him to me to wrap in one of my old shirts before putting him in his grave.  I really wasn't expecting him to still be warm!  I was expecting cold & stiff.  Randy said he swore he felt him purr.

I'm really gonna miss my baby.  He just turned 11 in July.  I was expecting to have a few more years with him.  Randy was really tore up, too.  When we came in after the burial and all 3 of us were sitting on the bed, Chester & Maggie both got on the bed with us.  I think Chester is wondering where he is, too.


 It's sad, but I know he's probably up in Heaven, laying on my dad's lap already.  He's hopefully comfortable and safe and I really need to get some tissue!!!

RIP Skeeter, my sweet baby boy.


Today was a really sad day.  I got the worst call ever from the vet.  Skeeter didn't make it through the night.

~sniff~

Let me back up.  Tuesday evening, he was acting a bit off.  Like he was concerned about something.  He was normally fairly talkative, but he was making loud, odd-sounding howls.  I didn't know what to think, so I spent more time with him and he seemed OK.

Wednesday, he was very lethargic and zombie-ish.  He acted like his tummy hurt.  I checked all my houseplants and none of them looked freshly chewed - heck even if they were - I'd suspect Chester, not Skeet!  I checked the ribbons on the balloon Angel still has floating around her room, since he has been known to chew on those.  Nope.  Still neatly cut.   He came when I called him (slowly) and I lifted him up on the couch next to me to watch the Wings game.  He literally didn't move.  Not even the end of his tail.  I just sat & petted him until I went to bed.  I left him on the couch since he seemed comfortable.

Thursday he seemed a bit perkier, but I still called the vet and got him an early appointment.  She wanted to keep him for x-rays and to take some blood for tests.  OK.  She called me later in the afternoon and said he wasn't happy with them (he never was!) and they could only get a tiny blood sample and the x-rays showed a blockage in his urinary tract.  Poor guy couldn't pee!  No wonder he hurt!  So she catheterized him and flushed his bladder with saline and then was going to put him on fluids and something to reduce the inflammation in that area.  She also said she was going to give him a little something to calm him down so he could rest and relax and that she'd call me in the morning.

So when she called me this morning, she told me that they ran the most important tests on the small blood sample they got & the levels of these certain chemicals (I forget the 3 she rattled off ) were so high, they were off the scale.  And that's when she dropped the news on me.

She said cats tends to hide when they are in pain, so he may have been hurting for a while and it just got to be too much, so that's when he started talking more.  Apparently the sedative was enough to help him go peacefully.

Randy was supposed to leave for Arkansas today.  So he was still home when I called him.  He went to the vet to get Skeeter, since I sure didn't want him cremated. I was still at work and for once, the office grapevine worked in my benefit.  Geri apparently heard me say "Oh No" and saw me grab a box of Kleenex and run out onto the dock.  She in turn told my boss, who was waiting inside the door when I went back inside.  I told her what happened & she told me to go home if I needed to.  So I did.

Randy had him in the garage when I got home.  He was still in the crate, wrapped up in a blue cloth that had a piece of tape with his name and hearts drawn on it.  We chose a nice spot in the back yard for his final resting spot.  He's under some pine trees and nothing will grow there, so I plan to find a nice statue or stone to put his name on.   We got the area dug out, then waited for Angel to get home from school.  She had a half day today, so we didn't have to wait long.

I admit to be mildly creeped out.  So was Randy.  He brought him out of the garage and handed him to me to wrap in one of my old shirts before putting him in his grave.  I really wasn't expecting him to still be warm!  I was expecting cold & stiff.  Randy said he swore he felt him purr.

I'm really gonna miss my baby.  He just turned 11 in July.  I was expecting to have a few more years with him.  Randy was really tore up, too.  When we came in after the burial and all 3 of us were sitting on the bed, Chester & Maggie both got on the bed with us.  I think Chester is wondering where he is, too.


It's sad, but I know he's probably up in Heaven, laying on my dad's lap already.  He's hopefully comfortable and safe and I really need to get some tissue!!!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Fire Up for Fall - week 9

I went to a craft show with my Mom & sisters yesterday - this was one of the two that we go to every year.  Even tho I prefer Halloween, I still find myself excited about going to "Christmas in Clawson" and "Santa's Craft Castle" every year.  It's just a nice day with the "girls" and we have a good time. 

And of course when I got out of bed yesterday, my knee was bothering me.  It's hasn't hurt for weeks and the day I plan to do a lot of walking - it acts up.  But I made it OK.   I found a couple neat things and got some ideas for both Christmas and Halloween 2012. 

Today has been spent putting the last of the Halloween stuff away.  I get the outdoor stuff put away on November 1, but the inside stuff I leave out longer to enjoy.  Randy has been outside mulching the leaves that actually fell before Thanksgiving this year, cleaning out gutters and putting away patio furniture.  The neighbors probably think its weird to see him out working in the yard instead of me! 

Oh yeah - and my eating has been - eh.  I have gotten into the snacks a bit much.  I admit.  The girl finally realized there was a small jar full of candy corn on the shelf and some of them may have found their way into my tummy.   Same with the cookies.  Damn them!

So anyway.... here we go into week 9!  As usual I will be linking back to Rebecca's  site to join in the fun.


1. What have you done this week towards your goals? 
Loss on scale?  Ugh.  I don't even want to talk about the 3 lb gain this week!
Get out the Wii? Nope!
Get out walking? YES!  I couldn't stand the thought of wasting these last nice days, so the dog & I went around the park. I wish I would have went more times, tho.
Cider & donuts? None!
New recipe? Nope!
2. What have you done to make yourself feel fabulous?  Went & had an annual physical & female exam.  Was told everything looked OK! 
3. What is the most positive thing you've taken away from this challenge?  That even tho I may mot be staying on plan well or getting results because of that, there are still supportive people out there who are going thru or have gone thru the same issues I am.
4. It's your last week, the run to the finish, what is your priority?  TRACKING!!!
5. Fun Stuff: Desert Island, you can take 1 person, 1 famous person and 3 items besides food and water. Who and What do you take?   I would take my husband.  Famous person would have to be someone cool & interesting like John Wayne (someone not a helpless wuss) - or if they have to actually be alive - someone funny like Bill Engvall.  My 3 things would be a camera with unlimited batteries, something to make fire with and a big box of books.

LOL - I asked Randy (husband) & Angel (daughter) what they'd say about #5.  Randy said he'd take a comedian for his famous person and his 3 things would be a star chart, a full ham radio station and something to build a fire with.   Angel said she'd take one of her friends & Taylor Lautner.  Then a blanket, pillow & clothes.

This is my positive pic.  At the craft show I really wanted to find something to help remind me to do my tracking.  So I found this really neat bracelet.  I love the blue stones on it!  Since I don't normally wear one, the idea is that having it there will remind me to track.  Especially since that is what I bought it to signify.  That's the hope, anyway!  I need to make sure to actually wear it so it will do the reminding!

And the blue "I Can Do It" thingy is a quilted pouch to hold my WW pocket guide.  

Friday, November 11, 2011

Thank You Veterans!!






Oh yeah, and you're welcome!

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 
So help me God.
(US Navy Oath of Enlistment)

 Dad, me, Lee (my adopted sister), my Lieutenant cousin, Mom.
At my bootcamp graduation, May 1992

 Me, Laura & Ginnie.
USS Canopus As-34 (1992 - 1994)

 The USS Abraham Lincoln CVN-72 post office crew
(1994 - 1997)

 Mom, me & F-14 on USS Lincoln flight deck.
October 1995

It was truly an honor and a privilege to have served for 8 years in the Navy.  
I'd do it again in a heartbeat!