SURELY not!?!?!?!?!?

Yesterday, the girls (Princess and Allie) went to the vet for their annual check up and shots as well as a bath and nail trim. Allie also has some patches of fur missing (we found she has some allergy issues and also some behavioral issues...she likes to scratch/lick as a habit like a person might bite his nails or pull at her hair or suck his thumb). Anyway, the medicine she is taking will help with the infection on her foot and hopefully when the irritation goes away, she will stop the behavior???? We hope. Otherwise, we'll have to trick her into leaving certain spots alone by directing her attention elsewhere.....Sounds like fun to me--LOL!

But, the real shock of the day was the weight check on Princess. I was just curious, as it appeared to me that she had lost a little this year. We had been trying to cut back on her food and I had been trying to exercise her a bit more. Imagine my shock when the vet told me she weighs 126 pounds!!!!! That's a 25 pound gain since last year. They even rechecked her weight. The 126 is right. I really don't know where 25 extra pounds are, so I am wondering if the 101 last year was possibly incorrect (she was wiggling a lot and maybe not all of her weight was on the scale?????) Anyway, regardless, for her frame, Dr. Jay says she SHOULD be in the 90 pound range. So, we have some work ahead of us. A new lower fat dog food and some consistent structured exercise. If we don't see results there, then some bloodwork (a thyroid condition is possible, as she really does NOT eat the recommended 5 cups per day for her size) and if that turns up nothing, there are doggy weight loss drugs that can help her get the weight off. Can you imagine???? But, she is pretty portly at this point. Actually, we did not get a weight on Allie, but she is going to benefit from a lower fat food as well. She has at least 5-7 pounds to lose I would say. We cannot see her ribs either!!

A new total.....

My new total weight loss is 31.6 pounds!!!! Yeah!! I forgot to weigh in earlier, and decided this morning that it was time. It was a nice little surprise to see the numbers dropping. I was able to buy some jeans in a smaller size last week and hopefully that will continue to happen. My original goal was to lose about 60 pounds. Now, based on my current size and how I look and feel, I am thinking that even 50 may be enough. But, I will just keep on doing the right things (eating right, moving more, making good choices...) and we'll see what happens to the scale. My body knows where it needs to be and if I treat it right, it will settle in more or less....I think. So, I am more than half way to my goal.....yeah!!!!!!!! Maybe I will get brave and post a before and after shot....one day....

Spring break fun..part two

Spring break ended with our return to Alabama on Wednesday afternoon. We had church/small group and hit the sack afterwards....quite tired. Thursday the van went to the shop and stayed there for two days (and LOTS of dollars). But, with 165K miles, what can one expect? I am grateful that we had the money to pay for it. God provided an unexpected bonus which paid for it almost completely. We got the van back late on Friday afternoon, but it was still making a strange noise...so we did not use it again after we both drove it and agreed something was not right. Bruce took it in on Monday...a part had not been 'seated' properly. A quick and easy fix. So by Tuesday morning, I had my wheels back again.

On Thursday of break, I painted (see below) while Abigail enjoyed bowling with some friends and playing here with them afterwards. On Friday, a friend picked us up for a nice time together....lunch at Shogun then a playdate at the park followed by ice cream and a trip to the animal shelter (just to look). She finally dropped us off at the garage to await our van's repairs being finished. So, we managed to have a busy day in spite of having no vehicle. And, it was a lot of fun. But, alas, I forgot to take any pictures.

Our break ended quietly. We are back at school...have spent a nice slow start to school with only about half our normal workload because we are also prepping for SAT's (Stanford Ach. Testing). So far, so good...Abigail is doing well with that. We have one more slow week, then we test the first full week of April.

spring break fun...part one

We have been enjoying a nice little break from school this past week. We spent Sunday afternoon thru Wednesday in Georgia with my family. One day we hung out with 'cousins' and this was some of the 'fun' that happened that day. Abigail and her cousins always manage to have fun :)

Angel Ivory

One of my projects over spring break was to paint. Now, lest I get way overwhelmed, I chose to simply stick to the foyer so that I could start and finish a task in a short amount of time...which is a good thing for me :) The foyer, living room and dining room have never been painted since we built the house in 1996 and I learned while working today in the foyer that the contractor's paint used originally is.....well.....a bit inadequate. Let's just say that my small foyer area used 3/4 of a gallon of paint....soaked it up like a sponge in NO time flat!!!

Anyway, I went from a beige color to "Angel Ivory". Sounds nice and pretty....and it is....basically a pale yellowish off white with a pretty name. Nice and neutral....which is what I wanted in the foyer and living room areas. When I turn the corner into the living room, I will continue with this color and when I do the dining room, I will be using this color above the chair rail with a deeper shade below. Since I have some 'color' (either greens or yellows) in other rooms, it is nice to have the neutrals here.


BEFORE>>>>>> Another before shot...
After..notice the slightly more yellow color..... I think the true color shows a bit better in this photo...plus you can see the new curtain :)
AFTER>>>>

Sick days and more.....

It has been busy around here....from me with a UTI and the antibiotics that made me even sicker to Abigail with a stomach bug that kept me pretty busy caring for her. But, hopefully we are 'on the mend.' She is eating a little now....and keeping it down which is a good thing. I did not take any photos. She would have "SHOT" me if I had. Her hair is just long enough that it needed to be pulled out of her face to avoid being part of the mess when she gets sick. So, I pulled the top up in a little scrunchy and she told me she looked like Frankenstein????? Not sure that HE wore scrunchies????

I am grateful that we are on the mend....and just in time for spring break. Today, we have some bits and pieces of school work to finish....stuff we would have done yesterday if she had not been sick. So we'll do that since we are still 'confined to the house' until at least late afternoon since she will not have been fever free for 24 hours until that time.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I get to sing the National Anthem at the opening ceremony of a Karate Tournament. I am very excited about that! Then we'll probably do my normal 'Friday' shopping that I could not do today since Abigail was not at school and I did not have that 'free time' to do my grocery/Sam's/Walmart run.

Somewhere in there we'll be packing for a trip to visit family in Georgia, because on Sunday, after church, Abigail and I will head there while Bruce heads to a work related function. Poor guy..he'll be at home well before we return.

We are looking forward to our break, both there and here too. I have a painting project in mind when I return as well as some time with a friend or two planned:)

Twenty Five years and counting...

This week marks TWENTY FIVE years for Bruce to be employed at Intergraph! That is over half of his life!!!! His boss took him out to lunch, he got a nice certificate and award (calculator/clock thingy) as well as a nice letter from the company. He also gets to choose an award from a list of about 35 items. I told him to get the kayak--he he he!!, but I think he is leaning towards a watch. The Lord has blessed him there and has used him to minister to so many people during those years. We are grateful that God has seen fit to use him and hopefully will keep him there for a while longer. Congratulations Bruce!!!

SNOW....a child and some fun

On Sunday morning, March 1, we woke up to a little bit of snow. It probably was not more than a good inch or inch and a half, but it was the most Abigail had ever seen. Since the weather forecast showed that it would probably be melted off by the time we got home from church, we let her play out for a while before heading to the main service yesterday morning. The roads were clear thankfully.

Abigail had a LOT of fun. And, I had a lot of fun too:)