Nothing New

I have nothing particularly interesting to share.  Had 3 long nights at work, one night off and back tomorrow night.  I start training for my new job on June 18, and I am excited to learn all the ins and outs of this new position!  I am running my first trail race on Saturday.  It is a 15k at Daussett Trails near Indian Springs, Ga.  It is part of the Dirty Spokes series.  

We are still missing the Chico around here.  After a mighty tough weekend with him in the doggie hospital trying to recover we brought him home Monday.  He got to spend a night at home and I was sure to tell him everything I needed to tell him before we took him to the vet the next evening.  Chico will always be missed but whenever I start to get sad, I just try and remember some happy time we had together and let him live on in my heart and mind.  I am not sure Killer has figured out what is going on yet, and I hope she can remain blissfully ignorant.  I do think that she may be able to lose some weight now though since she always scarfed her food down like she thought Chico was just waiting to eat it.  She actually leaves "left overs" in her bowl overnight. 

 

This is my sweet fellow, Chico.  He is not doing well and is at the vet's overnight trying to get better.  He was feeling a little under the weather Wednesday and started vomiting up his water and turning his nose up at his food.  When I woke up this morning I couldn't find him and I thought maybe he had gotten out of the fence again.  When I checked outside though I couldn't find anywhere that looked like he could have gotten out.  I called and called and looked in every room and finally found him curled up in the back of my closet under my clothes.  He wouldn't get up but he would at least look at me.  I scooped him up and took him to the vet.  The did an x-ray because he had chewed on some steel wool about a week ago.  The x-ray was negative, but his blood work was really bad.  His creatinine was 15 (supposed to be 1.5 or less) so he was in severe renal failure, the vet also said that his bladder had collapsed and was not making any urine.  I left him there for a few hours getting IV fluids then went back to check on him.  He was only a little less puny but he wagged his tail when Clay came in, however he still had not made any urine.  I am trying to be optimistic tonight, but I am a nurse and I understand what this probably means for my sweet Chico.

 

He has been my friend for the past 9 years.  He has sat with me when I cried, listened to all my stories, played with me, lifted my spirits when I was down, greeted me excitedly EVERY day when I get home, traveled all over with me and Clay and kept us entertained while on trips, he has kept Killer company and looked out for her, he has given me LOVE.  The special doggie kind that never asks for anything in return and covers you in sloppy kisses.

 

I am hoping for a miraculous recovery, but I am realistic and I am trying to prepare myself for the worst.  He is my little fella and my world just won't be quite the same without him.  I have done most of my true "growing up" with him by my side.  He never judged me, I always knew he loved me.

 

I can take solace in the fact that I think that he has enjoyed his life with me and Clay and Killer.  We have become his family.  He became our family.  From a cute little mutt at the Dublin Pound to the best potty trained dog on the planet he transformed.  

 

He loves to have his photo taken, although sometimes he will pretend that he is aloof and looks pretentiously off into the distance.

He loves a good road trip and boy has he been on a many!  St George Island, Huntsville, Chicago, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Franklin (our Honeymoon), Atlanta, back and forth to Marietta many times, back and forth from Statesboro many times, Brunswick, St. Simons, Dudley.

That boy LOVES to wear a coat, sweater, life jacket, etc...anything to help keep his delicate sensibilities warm.

 

He learned to love Clay, even though he is "not his real father."  They have a special relationship.  Chico rarely wants to play with me, he reserves his playtime and toys for when Clay gets home from work.

 

He is a nester, any time you turn around he has rearranged the pillows, the blankets, the pile of clean clothes or whatever in attempts to make a nest and to get under whatever cover he can.  He always sleeps under the covers down between my feet.  

 

Chico, you are my heart.  You have a big piece of me with you.  Know that I am thinking of you tonight and I am wishing you all the best in the world and I will do what is right for you when the time comes tomorrow.  You are a fantastic pup and I couldn't have had a better companion!  I want you to know that you touched everyone you met and made their lives better, even if only for a moment.  I wish I could give you a kiss on the forehead and rub your little white line between your eyes and tell you it will all be ok.  I love you pup, and you will always hold a special place in my heart! 

8mile

 

I just got back from an enjoyable 8 mile run.  I decided yesterday that I would try for 7 miles today so that I would get close to the distance for the 15k June 2nd.  I wanted to make sure that I thought I could do it since I just recently started back to running.  It went really well.  The weather cooperated and it wasn't too hot when I headed out and there was a nice breeze.  The first 5 were easy peasy unfortunately mile 6 was mostly a steep uphill but I maintained the pace pretty well.  My 7th mile was my fastest and I got it below 11min.  Came in, stretched it out and made a tasty smoothie.  In the mix:   2 cups almond milk, 2 frozen bananas, 1/2 scoop soy vanilla protein powder, 1 pack supergreens, a few cashews, and 1/2 cup water.

 

I ran out my road and down a different road today which was great because it was pretty flat compared to where I used to run.  I think this will be my new long run route.  I came across an old cemetery and it was right at my halfway point so I stopped there to stretch a moment and to eat my Honey Stinger waffle (this was super tasty!)  Seemed to do a good job too since my 7th mile was my best time.

 

I am not sure what the rest of the day holds but I am thinking I may read my book some, take a little nap (maybe outside), grocery shop (think I am going to cook a raddish, potato, and leek soup), pick up the CSA bounty, and maybe squeeze in an ab workout all before Clay gets home and we veg out in front of the tv for the evening.  Tomorrow is birthday day, got to decide what to do.  Hmmmm...

Nice Walk

 

There was a nice breeze this evening and the weather wasn't too hot so we took the doggies on a walk.  We did about 2 miles and everyone did well until the end when Killer apparently got overheated and flopped down on the roadside.  I had to pick her up and carry her for a bit *sorry I chopped her out of the photo.

 

Then we came home, I cooked up some Napa cabbage, boca burgers, baked tater tots, and sauteed squash and zucchini.  Yummy!  We watched New Girl and Glee, now off to bed.  I think I am going to try a long run tomorrow to see if I think I am ready to tackle a 15k trail run just up the road from here in 2 weeks.  A trial run for the trail run. Haha!

Mother's Day

 
I went down to Dudley for Mother's day.  I got to visit with Mema, Shelley, Walker, Norah, Johannah, Scott, Mom, Drew, and Sarah.  I hung out Saturday over at Aunt Johannah's with Mema, Shelley, and Norah.  She is about to have her first birthday.  We have the same birthday which I think is neat!  She is such a little doll, so well behaved!  She was holding my necklace and thought it was hilarious to pretend she was going to give it to me but when I reached for it she would pull it back.  You can see her little nose all scrunched up in the picture above, the first time she did this I was talking to her and I thought she was about to cry.  Come to find out she apparently makes that face when she is happy.  Too cute!

 
That evening mom and I went to Shaffer's in Dublin for dinner and had a great meal.  Then we went to TJ Maxx and got snacks to smuggle into the 10pm showing of Dark Shadows.  I had to work Sunday night so I was going to have to leave the next morning.  When we got in from the movie I whipped up an egg scramble with spinach and oats for the dogs since I forgot their dog food.  They ate then we all attempted to sleep.  Chico was driving me crazy wanting to go out 5-6 times per hour.  After 1.5 hours of this I put him in my car outside since the weather was nice and cool and the sun wasn't out to heat it.  Killer then started bothering me about going out so I put her in the car too so I could get a few hours of sleep. I went out to get them the next morning and my car was covered in throw up.  EWW!  Apparently the egg scramble did not sit well with either of them.  I spent the next half hour cleaning my car.  So much for getting home early in the morning so I could rest before going to work that night.  We went over to Johannah's and we had Tamales that her friend Myra made, some coffee, and a lemon bar.  I got to see Sarah (she was in Augusta shooting a wedding the day before).  Then I drove home, passed out for 3 hours and went to work.

Friday Night Music and Artichokes

 

After 2 VERY long nights at work I am so glad for a break.  I came home and pretty much went right to sleep this morning but when I got up this afternoon I wanted to do something different.  I completed a couple of craft projects and then I was messing around on the internet.  I was checking Facebook and noticed that there would be a musician at Jonah's tonight so I decided to check it out.  I couldn't find anything on the internet to see what this guy may sound like so it was an adventure.  Clay is out of town for mother's day so I grabbed my nook and off to Jonah's I went.  

The musician was Buell Wisner and he was really good.  I liked his very relaxed vibe and his voice was right up my alley.  The only complaint I had was that the only 2-seater (so I wasn't taking up a booth) was right in front of the A/C intake and I think they should have turned his volume up a little anyway.  If folks didn't come for the music they could have enjoyed their meal in the front section of the restaurant.  I got my grub on with my favorite artichoke dip and far too many toast points.  I sipped a pecan beer and read my book while I relaxed and soaked up some good tunes!  

Craft projects

 

I got the craft bug here lately and I have been faced with a closet full of clothes that I (luckily) cannot wear anymore.  Dropping 4 sizes will do that to a wardrobe.  There are some old items that it is probably best that I will never wear again, but most of my clothes I would like to keep.  Thus my new craft projects, making old clothes wearable again.  Case in point: the tankini top pictured. I bought this a few years ago from Old Navy for like $3 at the end of the season and I LOVED the print.  However, this is before I lost weight and it didn't quite fit.   

 

I was so excited when I pulled it out of my bathing suit drawer and put it on only to find that now it is significantly too big.  Good problem to have right?  Right, but still frustrating.  Sew (lol) I set to work and pulled a gather in the front and sewed that up and used a button to cover the stitches and the bump where the extra fabric is.  I am NOT a seamstress, I do not own a sewing machine, and I was super scared to mess with this type of fabric.  I told myself, what the heck, you can't wear it anyway so what do you have to lose.  I ended up with a great finished product.  Hopefully I will have some more successes with my other clothes!

Atlanta Movie Tour Date Day

 

 

Last week I caught a deal on travel zoo for a walking dead tour of Atlanta.  It seemed right up Clay's alley so we decided to do it this weekend.  This morning when I got off work we headed up to Atlanta to see some zombie hot spots.

 

The group met up at Castleberry hill parking garage did a short walking tour over the railroad tracks heading into town.  That area was featured in Walking Dead then we hopped on a bus to be shuttled around while we were informed and entertained by a guy who had the luck of being a famous zombie in the show.

We went to several spots around town but my favorite was the Goat Farm which is an artist community and a venue for events.  This was a fantastic place!  I got gobbled at by this guinea hen when I stopped to take the picture then it ran away, I guess it was camera shy.

 

 

 This photo of us is taken from the same location as the still shot from Walking Dead. Unfortunately our heads are too big and take up most  of the photo = )  We were super hungry when we got done and decided to head over to Decatur for Art B Que.  What a treat!  There were several food trucks so we had a variety: a little tamale here, hot dog there, Farm Burger sloppy joe here, King of Pops there.  Clay had a tasty pineapple habanero pop and Thai tea, I had a blackberry ginger lemonade and banana pudding pop, so good!  It had gotten very hot in the afternoon and the cool breeze from the morning had moved on so we didn't linger and listen to the music.

 

While we were up in the ATL we hit up Whole Foods for some items that are a little hard to get in Macon.  We saw a neat looking place called the Book House Pub and after shopping we had worked up an appetite and had dinner and some drinks there.  Clay had a jalapeno infused tequila margarita as his Cinco de Mayo celebration and then a delicious banana nut bread beer.  I was sleepy after the long day after work so I had 2 ginormous cups of coffee.  Clay was so excited they had duck on the menu and he was not disappointed.  I was let down by my chorizo burger (dry and bland) but the Guinness mac and cheese, lamb and risotto balls, and hand cut fries more than redeemed my experience.  This place was so cool and we for sure want to go back here.

Back to Running

After quite the hiatus from running (not exercise in general, just running) I am back at it.  I am contemplating running a 15k trail run in a month that is just up the road from the house on trails I used to frequent.  So Sunday I did a walk/jog 3.1 miles to get back into the swing of things.  Tuesday I set out in the heat of the day with my camel back and did intervals and did 4.7 miles in just over an hour.  Wednesday I still had the running bug and headed out here at the house again and thought I might do 3 miles but I was feeling good and went ahead and did 5 again.  I had forgotten what a great feeling it is to run and what an even better feeling it is after a run!  My hamstrings stay really tight all the time but running definitely makes it worse so I have GOT to make a concerted effort to stretch more and really focus on my hamstrings.  Although this is the first time ever I had some shin-splint type of pain after and I had done some intervals where I was running on my toes/ball of my foot.  Foam rolling might just be in order.

Wednesday I didn't bring my camel back so I took a liter bottle with me and dropped it halfway in.

Killer's new Vader Easter bunny toy.  You can see her leg sticking up in the background between his bunny ears.  She and Chico has been rolling around in the grass while I was reading out in the sun.  Beautiful, but already might hot here in GA.