Autumn Sunrise

Kiwi's breeder will no longer be breeding. Her homeowners insurance keeps getting cancelled and they say it is due to breeding. She is looking for homes for a few of her adult breeders. One of them happened to be Kiwi's mommy.  

Darker is Kiwi. Autumn is the lighter one.

Meet Autumn! She is six years old and is the newest addition to our family. :) She will be fixed just as soon as I get an appointment made. I wasn't planning on getting another dog. In fact I actually turned one down last week that was offered to me free from a "designer mutt" breeder. (6-7 lb M schnauzer/poodle) I told her we were just going to stay a 3 dog family. Whoops!  I lied it seems. 

I feel like it is fate that we were able to get his mommy. She has the same sweet, calm persona he does. Hers is a bit of a chub chub so we have to work on that. (16 lb mini dachshund) It admit that when I have a nose in my face I cannot tell them apart. She is a fatty but Kiwi is no skeleton himself (11 lbs) 

All the other dogs have accepted her with open noses. (All the better to smell you with my dear!) They do want to smell her more than she wants to be smelled but she doesn't get aggressive. She just backs away from them. She is turning out to be a little mommy's girl. I thought she was going to jump in the tub when I was in the shower earlier. 

The kids are thrilled to bits that we have Kiwi's mommy. They are asking for his Daddy now but I draw the line there. LOL All of Kiwi's tigger bounce is from his daddy. He doesn't walk across a bed, he hops like a rabbit. Her poor little fattness actually waddles on the bed and floor. 

I am pleased that I was able to get more accomplished today in the kitchen. I didn't sleep very well last night so I was up bright and early plotting out my attack. Thing I should have done years ago but didn't. I have vacation the end of March scheduled and I want to re-pain the kitchen then. Umm yeah it might have not been pained in 10 years. :X  See what so many years of being fat and mentally unhappy translate into?  For now a few quick fixes that already make me feel better. 

I need to scrub the bottom of the top one with bar keepers friend but I am pleased with how it looks in general. Decorative and functional is a win/win to me.

Look at them similar faces.

Please ignore the dog hair covered couch with slash marks. The white lines were made by B not even two weeks after we bought the couch. @@ He cut the fabric with child safe scissors. They are not cushions that you can flip so we just don't use that section.  (Autumn is the one on top in both pics)

This is Maggie. This is Maggie cozy. 

Last thing here is just a kinda creepy picture I took of the backyard the other night. I let the dogs out and it was like the backyard was blanketed in fog. 

MOSI

Sunday morning we woke the kids up at 8:30 am. We told them we were going somewhere cool but it was a surprise. On the two hour drive I told them it would be fun AND they would learn. They were not so sure about that part. LOL  

 http://www.mosi.org/        

Museum of Science and Industry is where we went. We lucked out in the fact that all tickets and memberships were 20% off. Gotta love a unexpected discount! We then spent a few hours exploring the museum. We watched the Shark IMAX movie on FL's only IMAX Dome theater. Then we went to the wonderland of IKEA. Quick trip through there to see what kind of trouble to could get into. Picked up a few things for the house. Dinner was Red Robin YUMMM! I have to say that it was NOT yumm and I need to email them tomorrow. 

I have pictures of course but they are on the camera and I am not feeling the upload love right now.

 Day off today and I have been busting my chops in the kitchen most of the day. I gave the counter top items a complete overhaul. I had to find a place for my Keruig. LOL  Hubby listed up our Breville juicer today. A friend of a friend will be buying it tomorrow for $100. We paid $120 for it so I have no complaints about that amount. 

I am off tomorrow too and then a icky stretch of 6 days to follow. Work wife is due to close on her house on Wed. so a schedule juggle ensued. I foresee lots of laundry in my future tomorrow.

In 5 hours

we are going to go wake up the kids. On a SUNDAY!  LOL  We have decided to spirit the boys away for the day to visit a large museum a few hours away. The plan is the buy the family pass so that we can go again and again. We looked at the theme park tickets and they are just so darn expensive even for FL residents. We figure this way there is learning and fun. :)

New hairdo

Roller Coaster

What a roller coaster my day has been.

I woke up with Happy by Pharrell Williams playing in my head.

I made a few phone calls and then headed up into town. Picked up three comfortis pills for the pups. The fleas have been horrible this winter.  I thought they were supposed to DIE in the cold. UGH.  Then I hit up PetSmart for a new perch. Then off to Target to walk and browse. Target has a large portion of TV's on sale and cartwheel has an extra 10% off this week. Hubby has been begging for a larger TV for years. I feel like we have already blown the roof fund by the time all the little purchases have been tallied. (Vet for Buddy and finally paying Peter off after a year of robbing him) I caved and got hubby a new TV. I am pleased with the deal I was able to score on it with the sale and cartwheel app.

I took his new baby home and was here for two hours when the urge hit to go my hair done did hit. I have been wanting to for a few weeks now. I printed my coupon for the current Ulta sale and headed into town. I hate spending that much for a wash and cut but I was very happy with my last hair cut which I got there. They had no room for a walk in. Poo! So I used my coupon and got their version of the Clarasonic. Since I spent over $19.50 I got the free gift. My justification was that I will throw out some of my older stuff. (Am I the only one that has a hard time parting with makeup? I don't wear it that often so I hate tossing it)

I then went to Walmart and I felt almost frantic with the want of a haircut.

 I told myself to CHILL OUT! That there was obviously something else going on and I needed to figure it out. I could have made it into the Walmart salon but I knew I probably wouldn't like it so I should just wait. I them walked around the store and decided I needed help. Help in figuring out what the hell was going on with me.  Was it Buddy? What it something else? I texted cousin Jewel (She has her own blog now! Hit her up) for help. Just after I sent the 2nd text to her Sending Out An SOS by The Police played in the store. Made me giggle a little.

I finally realized I was looking for happiness at Walmart. I had no desire to look for it in food which is a good thing. I wandered up and down many isles and in the end only ended up with a few things. Before I left I wandered through produce and as I walked by the cabbage and decided to get some it hit me. Jennifer  I had been thinking about her off and on a lot this month- especially with Buddy so near to the dates . My best GF died unexpectedly on February 14, 2006. She had a two year old girl and four day old twin baby girls. (Husband is a butt and her mom has custody of the 3 girls) I try and call her Mom on her b-day and her death date every year. I missed her b-day in August. I thought about her but just couldn't bring myself to call her mom the next day as I missed her actual b-day date. Then I totally forgot about calling on Valentine's Day with work and hubby spending the night out (will elaborate on that next post-all is fine) The reason the cabbage set me off is it is a food memory shared only with her. (Boiled cabbage in salted water) I bought a head of cabbage and will be eating that tomorrow after I call her mommy. Once I identified the issue I was having I felt so much lighter.

Speaking up that ticker is heading back down. I am happy with that weigh in being the time of month that it is. :)

I also had an epiphany while walking to the car. More on that tomorrow though. It is late and I have to be up in 4.5 hours.

Nine pairs.

Last night I put on a pair of flowy yoga pants that I haven't worn in a while. They felt looser to me. I checked the tag and they are Champion C9 (Target) XL. Add in the fact that those Old Navy pants were size 14 and it made me start to wonder if I had gone down any in jean sizes.

The main jeans I have been wearing are Merona size 18 boyfriend cut. They are to big and have been since I bought them. I was wearing really tight 18's when I tried them on months ago so they felt like heaven. LOL (and clearance!)  I figured I would add a belt and life would be good. I typically wear them with a more form fitted shirt since they are not pushing my gut up into my muffin top. I actually have pictures from that shopping trip but I never posted them. Ahhh I see why now. I just checked the time stamp and it was 10/06/13. My brother's medical saga began on October 12th.

Tight with much muffin.








Relaxed












This evening I asked hubby to come in and grab some jeans from the top of the closet for me. I wanted to try on the Old Navy 16's that I knew were up there. I wanted to see if they fit since they are about 13 years old. I know those are not vanity sized. Haha! There were 15 pairs of jeans/slacks up there. I tried on every single pair. I had a light sweat just from doing that! LOL

 All of the Old Navy size 16's that were up there (three of them) did not fit. Three pairs of Tommys and six pairs of others all in 16 did though. That means NINE* new pairs of pants!!! YEAH!! IN SIZE SIXTEEN!!!!

 (*Eight pairs are from a GF from HS who is a teacher that likes to dress up for school. She lost a lot of weight on phentermine and mailed me clothing she no longer fit into several years ago)

I pulled all the 18's out of my closet and replaced with 16's.

Now this is not the first time that I have made a similar post about pulling smaller sizes out from atop the closet. I want the next size I fit into to be 14's. Well really those Old Navy 16's because they are probably more like real 14's then today's versions.

Last time I wore size 16's I weighed 9 pounds less. Weird.

Details on Tuesday.

As you can see my ticker to the right changed, in a negative way.

 After I dropped Buddy off at the vet Monday morning I went to the grocery store. I planned on buying the ooiest gooiest thing I could find in the bakery to comfort myself. I looked at all of the pastries, donuts, and cupcakes. I finally ended up with a box of little debbie star crunches. I ate half the box of them throughout my 10 hr work day. Excessive? YES. Did I give a flying fig? NO. I was hurting and I wanted comfort to soothe my soul. Why? Because I had a feeling things would end up like they did. 

During the initial visit the tech discovered he had no feeling in one leg. That combined with everything else was a bad sign. The Vet suspected a spinal disc issue. It turned out to be severe disc problems. The Vet felt it was best to let him go after he saw the extent of the damage on the x-ray when he didn't respond to any form of treatment. They even tried acupuncture to see if that would help any. 

Afterwards I headed up into town to wander around. I didn't want to go home yet. I went and wandered Target. Then I headed to Ulta to use a coupon. I popped into Old Navy to look around after debating if I should or not. Reason being is Old Navy only carries plus sized stuff online usually. I never find anything in that store and always leave grumpy about it. I immediately went to the clearance rack. I found a cute dress in the XL area that was a S. Umm no. LOL  Then I found a pair if black slacks that were size 14 @ $2.97 They looked big to me though so I took them into the fitting room. Umm they fit?  So me thinks Old Navy participates in vanity sizing.  At that price though I jumped on them. I couldn't tell what style they were and I didn't want to move the price to look under it lest they think I swapped tags. Reason being is I was pretty positive they were technically capris seeing as they are tall but fit to my ankles. LMAO At the register they rang up as blk bf chino.  When I got to the car I tried to look them up on the website but nada. I did eventually find boyfriend kahkis which I believe these are and they are capris as I thought. I wore them Friday to work with a black polka dotted shirt and pink long sock for V day.

I need to reinforce the button stitching though as I predict it will pop off soon. It isn't sewed on very well.

Buddy

Buddy the wonder dog is now residing at The Rainbow Bridge. Today marked the two week anniversary of us adopting him. His time with us was short but we will never forget him. After much discussion about quality of life for a mostly blind (cataracts) and paralyzed dog with the Vet we chose to let him go in peace. He was snoring in my arms till the last possible second.

Please think good thoughts for Buddy

Buddy (the new pup) started limping on his right leg last night. Within minutes his back legs were paralyzed. He is currently at the vet awaiting xrays. The Doc thinks that he may have blown a disk.

I feel

sad.

Why? Because I was super excited and pumped up to do the 90 day workout routine. I had hubby take starting pictures and I was really looking forward to some kick ass ending pictures. You know, like the ones people that do the P90x or Shred videos post. Things were going well till about Wednesday when I must have messed up my knee. Thursday was my overwhelmed day. Friday was the last workout I did from the program. My knee was hurting Thursday on but I thought it would be OK. I called it quits on Sunday after taking Saturday as a rest day and knowing my knee was not feeling better. I have continued to rest it and what a difference Sunday into Monday was. Monday into Tuesday it almost feels normal (now it feels like a standard sore, not a tweaked hurty version of sore) and I hope tomorrow it will be good as new.

 I figured out why I was in a fog Thursday and Friday. I took melatonin at like 1 am then was up at 6:30 am to get the kids up for school then back down for my 1 hr-ish nap. You would think it would have worked out of my system by the middle of the day but apparently not. Lesson learned! I really think I was up that late both nights from the working out at 8:15 pm.

I had a plan. I had direction. While I have a 30 day plan to follow now I am just not feeling the excitement like I did for the 90 day plan. Really though, 30 day is more my style. Hell 2 days is more my style. LOL  At least I made it to day 5 in the 90 day routine even if one was a rest day.

Ok, I feel better now. Sometimes blogging is like having a discussion with a therapist even if the therapist is yourself. 


I was off today and am off tomorrow as my Dad arrived today for a visit. He will be staying here tonight and tomorrow then off Friday morning to a Ham radio thing.

Good night my lovely ladies! Thank for reading and commenting. I appreciate the support bunches!!

Second verse different than the first.

I set my alarm for this morning (EWW on a day off even!). This morning I took Buddy to get all that hair shorn off. I told them to cut it all off. I didn't want the schnauzer cut or anything like that. A whole new dog lurked under all of that hair. They felt that he would be a different color under all that hair. They said his face seemed sun bleached. Goodness I wonder how much time he spent outside if that is the case.

Hubby left on his 20 mile training run and I planned what to work on for the day. I was just getting started with the dishes and laundry when I got a phone call. Hubby hurt his ankle 10 miles into his run. I had to stop everything and go pick him up. Then we hit Publix and I realized how uncomfortable my knee was. My left knee has been feeling weird since we started this 90 day thing. I don't know how to describe it. Very tight feeling might be the best way. Sometimes it goes down into the top of the calf as well. We all know this plan is technically above my fitness level according to the web site. I am calling it a rest day again because I don't want to hurt myself. I have been working out on it feeling off but today at Publix it was like it wanted to buckle. It didn't, but it slightly gave out twice so that means rest and see how it is tomorrow. My fellow blogger Karen was worried about me doing this 90 day plan. I told her I would be fine as I would modify and I wouldn't do anything stupid to hurt myself. Stupid would be working out on this after the slight buckles today.

Of course I am costing myself shinys as she would call them. After she realized how hard headed I am about doing this she dangled a carrot in front of me. Complete 60 days of any program. 5 days a week with 2 rest days and she would buy me two new skins. Skins for what you ask? As you might know I have a gowearfit. They are a cousin to the bodybugg. Both are produced by body media. My strap has been broken and I have been to cheap to to spend the $12 to buy a new band (not to mention the stupid monthly fee I didn't want to pay) I went a looking on ebay Monday and found a steal. I got a working budybugg with TWO straps and the digital display for $20.00. The skins would have been for the new bugg. Which happens to be the exact shape of my gowearfit as well.

Actually-  I am just going to call it. 

 I am putting a halt to the 90 warrior program.

 I think my knee will be ok as long as I don't over do it. I fear trying to stay above my fitness level will hurt it more. Therefore I am going to back pedal and change programs. I am the sole breadwinner and if I hurt myself the bills will not get paid. My eyes were bigger than my muscles it seems. :/

As of tomorrow I will be doing the Hasfit.com 30 day beginner workout program. I think with the low impact that it should be doable with my knee as is.

Tonight's dinner was odd. I made nachos for the family but I didn't want to eat the chips. I figured I could put my meat on top of some kind of veggie and just eat with a fork. I ended up with frozen okra. Haha  I roasted it till it was nice and dry. It was OK.  I doubt I will be eating it that way again.

The first stage

Before

                                                           

HAI!  I feel better without all that hair weighing me down!!

Rest day w/ a condition

I did get to sleep in a little bit more today due to there being no school. However the kids woke me up with the fighting. UGH!  I predict the x-box controllers will be coming to bed with DH tonight. They know if they wake up and the controllers are missing that means they have to wait till we get up to play. Muahahah

I decided I am going to take today as my rest day with a condition. The condition I am setting on myself is that I got to bed early. I burned over 2000 calories before 9 pm. today. Record breaking day of fees for my job with me working alone was responsible for that though. 

I commit to being in bed in the next 4 minutes.

See ya tomorrow!