Illnesses and then some

When Ty was just under a year old, he acquired the stomach flu. Three weeks prior to that, Brett had the stomach flu. I knew I was doomed when Ty got it, but I had to keep my mind off of it.

Let me interject with how much I hate puking. I cannot stand puking and will go to any length to not puke.

So, Ty can't walk yet at this point and it was pretty easy to contain the nastiness. I put a blanket on the floor in the middle of the living room and put his handy Fisher-Price chair, that had a kickstand, atop the blanket. I could tell when he was getting ready to vom. I would spring up and swoop the kickstand out to rock him forward to catch the projectile in a burp cloth.

After about five hours, he stopped puking. He got some good shut-eye and was able to drink a bit of pedialyte.

This day, the weather was glorious. I was able to have windows open and the pups played outside a lot that day. Ruca dug a giant hole in the morning and in the afternoon, while I was cleaning up the house as Ty napped, I caught a glimpse of Dutch on the deck out of the corner of my eye. I thought he had brought a basketball up and on the double-take, I saw it was a rabbit head. A very big rabbit head. I literally screamed as loud as I could. The entire neighborhood had to have heard me screaming, BUBBA!!! NOOOOOOO!" I was mortified. I call Brett to tell him, he tells me to leave it and he will get it when he gets home. Did I mention that this rabbit head was right in front of the sliding glass door??? I couldn't even stand the thought of leaving it there for a few more hours. Out I go with garbage bags on my hands and a double bag for the head. After many yelps (from me), I got it taken care of. Yay, me!!

Ty wakes shortly thereafter and is somewhat back to his normal self. He and I played and he was smiling and giggling and having a good time. Then, it happened. I realized my shirt was wet and my pants and my arms and pretty much everything but my face. I look across the floor and see a trail of runny baby crap and even that same goo all over his soccer ball. I was afraid to look to see what I was covered in. Yes, it was indeed "that."

I called Brett again to find out where he was. He sensed the panic and asked what was wrong. I said, "get home now!!! I am covered in $hit!!! Literally covered in $HIT!!!" Thankfully, he had just turned onto our road. By the time he came in, I was already in my underwear and getting Ty ready for bath. I handed Ty over to Brett and in one of my not-so-proud moments, in my fecal frenzy, while still in bra and panties, I began scrubbing the carpet with Bath and Body Works' Tropical Passionfruit antibacterial hand soap with moisturizing micro beads. Yes, I really did that. I came to my senses shortly after and cleaned again with actual carpet sanitizing spray and then again with vinegar and water. I finally got a full shower.

It gets better/worse. That night, Dutch started getting sick. He had the runs, but at least it was outside. Rabbit or flu, not sure. That very same night, I felt it coming on. It was a pity I had eaten Casey's pizza. I actually cried when I felt it coming on. Brett wasn't sure what to do. Ha! I spent the next day in bed. It was a quick one. Recuperating the next day as well.

It was the day after that I went back to work. Brett and i thought it would be best to corrall Dutch and ruca in the kitchen since Dutch was still under the weather and it seemed Ruca was going that direction, too. I went home at lunch to let them out and make sure they had enough water. When I opened the door, I knew by the smell. Dutch was fine and happy to see me. Ruca was cowering in the corner. I round the furniture to find the hallway sprayed with crap. Walls and carpet. I call Brett to ask if he kenneled the pups. He says, "no, I didn't." I say, "well, ya probably should have, it's not pretty." Brett says, "no!" I say yes and we did that a couple more times.

I had to call work to tell them I wouldn't be back and was taking "VACATION" to clean up the annihilation. I called every single carpet cleaning business in town and no one had any openings. I rented a Rug Doctor and cleaned the carpets three times. In the middle of all that cleaning, I called my sister and cried while she laughed.

I caught a shower, returned the Rug Doctor and picked Ty up with time to spare.

All of that really did happen. Maybe the point of this post is to remind you to not eat raw rabbit and to push yourself to the brink of a nervous breakdown????? Or maybe to point out what my life is like and know you aren't alone when things continue to go wrong???? Whatever your interpretation, make it a good one!!!!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you with weak stomachs, I apologize and until next time...

The Joys of Home Ownership

The last time I was hitting the gym hard was about 5 years ago. I was doing great, feeling pretty good and exceeding my own expectations. That summer, Brett and our brother in law were preparing to go on a trip to Montana. It was the night before they were to depart and I was doing laundry. I turned the washer on and went upstairs to the kitchen to do a few things. As I was busy with the kitchen stuff, after about 10 minutes, I could REALLY hear the washing machine. I thought and said out loud, "wow! The washing machine sounds really loud right now, like running water... oh crap!" I ran downstairs to find that a hose had broken loose and was spraying water EVERYWHERE in the laundry room.

I yelled for Brett to come down. He and I cleaned up the mess as best as we could and he reattached the hose. I kept on with the laundry. The hose came off again. Again, we cleaned up the mess. He again reattached the hose. Since there was carpet down in our laundry room at the time, we both agreed that I would have to take that out the next day because it would smell by the time he returned. At this point, it was about midnight and they were leaving in a few hours. Went to bed, slept it off. I woke up bright and early and started chopping up the carpet and the half of the carpet pad that was down there.

Do you have any idea how heavy wet carpet is? Let me tell you that it was so incredibly heavy, awkward and being a do-it-myselfer that I am, did it by myself. The back of the carpet was so rough and it scratched and scraped my arms and legs so bad. It looked like I got into a fight with a cat using sandpaper as a weapon.

Carpet and padding hauled to the curb, laundry started AGAIN. I mopped and was going to put away the knives and blades I used in the garage. Came back down to finish up to find the washer had broken free AGAIN. Water everywhere. AGAIN. This time, I called my jean hiking dad to help get it reattached. He came, he saw the carpet and asked why in the hell I didn't call for help. My response: I don't know. Ha!! That one day was a superb workout minus the part where I broke down, fell to my knees, started crying and cussing up a storm that was not suitable for many adults. Wait! I didn't tell you that part?!?! Hmm, must have forgotten!!!

I have also been known to shovel rocks into a wheelbarrow and haul rocks to the backyard. I have also been known to load big pieces of concrete into the same wheelbarrow to haul it uphill to the driveway. Both excellent workouts. Multitasking once again at its finest!!

We do need to put more rock in our backyard. I intend to replace a workout or two with this activity. I'm kind of looking forward to it. I'm a sick puppy. I'm okay with that though!!!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you trying to figure out which home projects can be good workouts, until next time...

Foodie Time!

Right now, if my sister is reading this, I so hope she gets my "Foodie Time" song stuck in her head. Yes, I have a Foodie Time song. Nope, didn't make it up for Ty... I made it up for Dutch. True story. Still sing it for both Dutch and Ruca from time to time and most definitely sing it when my sister is here. She LOVES it. If you want me to teach it to you so you can sing it to her, too, let me know!

A few months ago, I heard about using plain popcorn kernels, putting them in a paper lunch bag and popping the popcorn in the microwave. Let me tell you, it is GREAT! I love that I can make popcorn without oil and without a separate appliance or special microwavable bowl. Of course you can add butter to it and salt and whatever else you like and that is usually how it is done around here since I make it for Brett and I. My secret is that I eat the plain, air-popped popcorn while the next bag is in the microwave. Then, when I sit down with him and the popcorn, I've already eaten enough plain stuff that I'm not that hungry for the naughty stuff. I get the taste and even get to eat some with some M&Ms, but Brett does a pretty good job polishing off the rest of the bowl. Not only is the popcorn better tasting than pre-packaged microwave popcorn, it is cheaper, you can make single servings and it doesn't have the preservatives, sodium and all the other things that I can't pronounce. I'm still trying to perfect the timing and how much to put in the bag. We have ended up with quite a few seeds at the bottom of the bowl. I'll keep trying.

You know when you go to a restaurant and you ask for an extra side of ranch or butter or hot fudge or anything "extra" for that matter? I have trained myself to not ask for extra anything anymore. The amount you get is enough. Keep telling yourself that. Those small things can add up quickly when you are trying to lose weight and/or eat better. Skip the extras next time, unless it is something that could add nutritional value like broccoli, celery, water or air. Ha! You know what I mean. Remember, everything in moderation.

I have kind of hit a food funk lately and am needing to explore other options and find something that will satisfy me and meet the nutritional needs I have. I once again have to get back to the "food is purely fuel for my body" thought and let it come naturally, but crap, sometimes, I just need different stuff. I eat way too frequently throughout the day that I need to keep it fresh.

Have I talked about Vitatops before? These are one of my favorites!!!

Two doors down neighbor said to try putting tuna on our grilled cheese. Can't say that I was a big fan, but it was a nice change up to a simple meal. I will try again, but use something other than American Cheese on it. Maybe a little fresh sliced cheese instead. Not that we eat grilled cheese a lot and not sure why I am obsessing about grilled cheese.

I am going to try actually cooking spinach. I have never made it in the ways of taking fresh spinach and cooking it. I've only eaten it raw in salads or sandwiches or used frozen for recipes. I want to try it like a side vegetable. I'll let you know how I do with that.

It is a double-edged Samurai sword (unsigned by Randy Jackson) that I do all of the cooking here. I pretty much cook what I want, but it is hard to come up with ideas that I think everyone will like, and be nutritionally balanced while expanding the horizons of myself and Tyson. Brett will eat pretty much whatever I cook if it doesn't involve cooked carrots, but the chances of him eating it again if it wasn't stellar, not so great. Ty seems to be getting braver at trying new things and tried a couple bites of chili the other night. It wasn't too spicy, but it looks like I am going to have to tone it down even more in the event he decides to actually make a meal out of it. Things were definitely easier the last time around with this weight loss thing when I didn't have to worry about getting a little guy to eat. This is the new reality, I'm just trying to make it manageable.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you that may have any food ideas for me, until next time...

True Blood and Then Some

I am slightly obsessed with the HBO show "True Blood." I watch religiously and own a couple of True Blood shirts. True. Very true. These two shirts are my very favorite shirts to workout in. I think I get a better workout in those shirts. Yeah, I just admitted that. I'm not sure what it is, but something about wearing TEAM BILL or Bon Temps Football across my chest makes working out at 4:15 in the morning that much more bearable. True Blood shirts are to Trisha's workout as Prom dresses are to Prom. Yup, I said that.

I must have the correct pants to workout. I NEED a drawstring and they need to be capris. If they are full-length sweatpants, I will most definitely be stepping on the bottoms at some point in the workout. And you all know, the pant legs MUST be equal length, otherwise, I have been known to check the length in the middle of a workout. I would also like to say that I am looking forward to the next season of True Blood as well as last season's episodes to come out on blu-ray.

I enjoy the occasional company when I am working out. Last week, I was astonished when Ruca found her way downstairs with me. She was right at my feet, behind me and under my head the entire time. I would pet her and kiss her when I could, enjoying the company of my girl, which hadn't happened in years. I tripped on her a couple times and I got her to lie down on the couch for a bit, but she kept getting up and nudging my legs. It wasn't until I was done an hour later, came upstairs and found that the dogs' water tank was empty and the bowl was bone dry. Yeah, she was trying to tell me that my whole workout. I didn't listen. Bad mommy. It was all good when I filled the tank and she slurped a lot down.

Dutch has joined me a couple of times while I workout, but his motives are because it is has been unseasonably warm and even warmer in our house upstairs. He retreats to the basement to chill out. Fortunate for me, he finds a place to lay down away from my feet. He watches the whole time. I can only imagine what he is thinking when he watches me. I think he is thinking, "wow! She is wicked awesome at this Turboma Fireplace stuff! She can move! She moves like the wind! She looks like Chuck Norris when she moves!"

I would like to say that I look nothing like Chuckie or the people on my DVDs. I have caught glimpses of myself in the reflection on the TV and I look incredibly ridiculous. My technique is off and I look like I am moving in slow-motion. It is so strange, in my mind, I think I am rocking it and imagine that I really do look awesome while working out. The reality is that my pants start to fall down, my gut then pours over the top of my pants and then that gut just jiggles over and over and over again while I am jumping around. If that isn't bad enough, my arms are jiggly and when I mean jiggly, I mean JIGGLY. Yet more reasons to solidify my working out in my basement. As if the other reasons weren't bad enough? It just keeps getting worse the more I think about it. Ha!

I am still waiting for it to stay light out longer so I can do my two rounds of pup walking at night. Nope, still don't take them together. Each one still tries to get ahead of the other. Plus, I look at it more like spending quality, one on one time with each of the pups. Each one separately is an excellent walker. Together = a steaming hot mess.

As much as I do enjoy getting my workouts done in the wee hours of the morning, I do find that my drive is way better after I have spent some time waking up. My energy level is different hours after I awaken as opposed to 15 minutes. I suppose it is logical that it is that way. I encourage anyone that is wanting to START SMALL to get up a little earlier than normal (whatever your work schedule is) and get the workout done and over with for the day. My mental clarity suffers when I choose to sleep later. Aside from that, I know that there will come a day when Ty will stay up later and I won't be able to get a really good workout in at night. The other night, he and I ended up lying on his bedroom floor when he would normally be winding himself down in his bed, and we sang songs and pointed out shadows on the ceiling and wall. That was well worth the sacrifice of my evening workout.

I have decided that I will show Ty the new TaeBo workouts and see what he thinks. He may not like them and I may be forced to go back to the VHS until the VCR eats them.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you wondering if I really do look like Chuck Norris when I move, until next time...

Million Dollar Idea

I am almost done with 12 weeks of TurboFire. I have almost every single workout memorized. Not only have I memorized the moves, but I know EXACTLY what Chalene is going to say before she says it. It reminds me of watching "Encino Man" and knowing all the dialogue and saying it the entire movie.

So, now that I know what she is going to say, I have also heard the words: rotator cuff, abductors, spinea erector and IT band more times than I can count amongst other new vocabulary. So, what if someone came up with workouts that had "lesson plans"??? For example, let's say you wanted to learn about dinosaurs, you could get a TurboFire workout with dinosaur facts and such built right in. I wouldn't mind a lesson plan based on my entire semester of government my senior year in high school. No aptitude for that, but if I listened to it over and over again, I think I might get it. I like it! It would be a new way to multi-task!!!!! Chew on THAT!

Okay, moving on. I now fast forward through the extreme warning that precedes every TurboFire workout. I DID read it the first time around and it actually scared me. It says if you feel discomfort, nausea, pain, etc, to discontinue the workout. It states that TurboFire is not for everyone and you should consult a doctor before beginning this workout. What's funny is that most doctors don't know about the newest workouts available out there, so how in the world are they going to help you if they don't know? I can understand that someone with heart problems may be limited in what they should be doing, but if you don't even know what type of workout it is, how are you going to give advice on it. I know, I know, it is a disclaimer on ALL workouts, but seriously. I have heard that Insanity has a similar warning before each workout, too. So, I look forward to getting the crap scared out of me once again.

Choosing the right workout can be kind of tough, but you have to start somewhere. With START SMALL, start with the stuff you already know how to do. Like walking, for example. Walk at a fast pace for a certain amount of minutes and increase both the speed and time until you need to move to something else or are able to jog. It IS that simple. If you have a bike, get that puppy a tune-up and get on it! You can get an inexpensive speedometer that will help gauge where you are in your intensity. The important thing is to continue to challenge yourself. Be brave!!! Jump to it! (literally if you have good knees, figuratively if you have bad knees)

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you thinking about making a workout video with dinosaur facts in subliminal messages, until next time...

People are funny

People are funny. And I don't mean "ha ha" funny, I mean they can be ridiculous, intrusive and exasperating. From time to time, people have asked me if I am pregnant. The first couple of times this happened, I got rid of a lot of shirts and never wore the longer flowy shirts again. My response to them was "no. I'm just fat. Thanks." The dialogue to follow was never a sincere apology or even an insincere one. The person usually tried to justify their asking. I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't even ask a woman if she were pregnant even if I was 99% sure that she was. It is just something you don't do. Alas, people still do it.

It hasn't happened to me in a long time, thankfully, but I'm pretty sure my snippiness about the topic made people think. I started responding to people with "since when do pregnant women look like they are harboring a baby anaconda? Last time I checked, the belly should be round and somewhat hard. This, (as I would grab my gut, squeezing it and shaking it a bit) is NOT a baby belly, unless I'm going to give birth to a baby anaconda sometime soon." Yeah, I really did say that. More than once. Not my proudest moments. I tend to have a problem with handling things with an amount of grace that saves me from looking like an a-hole because I get so worked up and let things slide until I can't take it anymore. Character flaw. Or it is the trait of my dad. Maybe both. You decide.

Another "funny" type I encounter are those that don't know what else to say so they say things that come off insincere or condescending. Seriously, the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" rule is a good one to keep in your back pocket. Be sincere. Say what you mean and mean what you say. It works better for everyone involved.

Another "funny" type is the intrusive one. I have a family member that is extremely intrusive and overly opinionated when it comes to topics that are none of his/her business. Things that shouldn't bother me, end up making me feel deflated and angry. Now, I just avoid her and distance myself more and more. Things are definitely a lot easier without people trying to pull you down.

I learned a while ago, but later in life, from an awesome friend to "speak out of love." Meaning, when people tick you off, as much as you want to put them in their place, you should only do so out of love for that person, not out of spite.Now, I admit, I have a hard time with this general rule of thumb, but I can honestly say that it has helped me in my personal life and family relationships because I remind myself to speak out of love for that person instead of anger towards that person. It actually does help if you truly love and care for that person to begin with. I can't help you there, sorry.

There are quite a few people in my life with whom I am close that are negative. Oddly enough, the relationships I have with them are positive and healthy, but their attitudes are negative towards many many many things. Sitting here typing, I can't think of much positive that these people say in a day. Surprisingly, this has not had much of an affect on me. Maybe it is because I am hoping they will "catch on" to my trend and be more positive? I don't know. No, I'm not trying to change them either or make them my mission, but I want to lead by example. Don't get me wrong, you get me on a tirade about receiving the wrong car part or a nasty person trying to bring me down, I WILL unleash. I just try to not be like this every moment of every day.

I saw on a post by my sister in law that my mother in law had told her: Everyday we meet people we want to be like and people we don't want to be like. All that matters at the end of the day when I look in the mirror is that I am who I want to be.

I agree with this post. I think it is great. I do however think that there is always room for improvement. There is always a way to make yourself better. A different way of thinking, a different way of coping, a different way of reacting, a different way to do anything. Another START SMALL task. What can you do?

With that thought, I'm signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you with suggestions of what to name my baby anaconda, until next time...

Go Trish!

I am a "do-it myselfer." It just dawned on me where Ty gets it. I like to try to do things myself because I really like the challenge and I do like that feeling of accomplishment when I am successful or the good story to tell if I fail. I convince myself that I can do anything. This is a good thing, most of the time. I observe people doing things and really truly believe that I can do it. I watched someone cut Brett's hair and figured I could do it. That was a success. Really, it was and I am talking about before he was shaving his head.

I had watched a gal wax my friend's eyebrows and mine one day. I thought, "I can SOOOO do that!" Easy! So, I get me a little tub of MICROWAVABLE wax. Yes, microwavable. Before I continue, let's just say that really, if you are putting a beauty product in the microwave, you probably shouldn't use it. Because it was microwavable wasn't an issue, though. It just doesn't seem right. Anyway, I brought the wax home. Microwaved and followed the instructions. BEAUTIFUL results! I used the little guides that came with the kit and cut them the way I needed them. I put forth the effort.

Eyebrows grew back.

I bust out the wax again. Microwaved. Got to the bathroom where I decided that I could totally do it without the guides and could smear it on like the gal did at the salon. I was using a tongue depressor, by the way. Not a contoured piece to precisely apply the wax. I smeared the wax on and because I couldn't wear my glasses during this process, I didn't happen to notice that the wax was a little, um, bulky. What I thought was a wispy from my hair falling in my eyes, which I promptly wiped away with the back of my hand, I quickly realized was actually wax. I look in the mirror to see that my eyelashes are COVERED in wax. My top eyelashes are now stuck to my eyelid. I blink. Crap. Wax on both top and bottom lashes. At this point, my lashes are just about glued together. Instead of being able to rip the wax off, I have to empty the entire bottle of RESIDUE wax remover in my hand and start scrubbing. While it didn't burn and I didn't go blind from this, it sure didn't feel the greatest and my eye was quite red. And I still had the one eyebrow to go. Never waxed them at home again.

I am pretty sure that my home workouts are in an attempt to make an ass of myself only in front of myself and tell the story later as I characterize myself as a do-it-myselfer. Make sense? Good!!!!!!!

In all seriousness, I am a do-it-myselfer. I try anything at least once. I usually try to do things that I shouldn't by myself and end up having to have my head glued. I really believe that I can do anything. Most of the time, I succeed. Sometimes, I crash and burn, but strangely enough, that crashing and burning is only more motivation for me to try again. I don't have any real talents, so I find that I am constantly trying to keep doing better at things I'm not so great at. Always room for improvement.

I have a friend who is also a do-it-herselfer. In addition to yard work, decorating and home projects, she tried giving herself a Brazilian at home. I won't even hint to whom it might be because I'm almost positive my house would be vandalized and my car keyed.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you wondering why I told this story, again join the club, until next time...