I'm Still Alive.

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that I'm still alive. We found a house. Hub, sister in law, and I have spent every waking moment at the house renovating it for the past week. There will be a long photo filled post comming down the line when we are finished. This house was filled with ugly and nasty. The people who had it before me destroyed it. Today we spent all day sanding the hard wood floors we found while takeing out the nasty old carpets. Tommrow we will start painting.

Tag I'm it.

Minta over at Life Family and the Pursuit of Sanity tagged me. I also secretly love to fill out these surveys. So here goes.

Rules
1. You Can Only Use One Word!
2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. Have Fun!



The Fun Part

1. Where is your cell phone? Bed
2. Your hair? Washed!
3. Your mother? Semi-Crazy.... ( I get it from her....)
4. Your father? ASSHAT!!!!
5. Your favorite food? Steak
6. Your dream last night? None.
7. Your favorite drink? Pepsi
8. Your dream/goal? Mom - Also- Heathly... (Sue me I broke the rule! :P)
9. What room are you in? Hotel.
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? non-mom
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Settled
13. Where were you last night? Hotel
14. Something that you aren’t? Infected
15. Muffins? Da DA DAAAAA... ( it's a Phsych thing)
16. Wish list item? Home
17. Where did you grow up? brook

18. Last thing you did? toe-ointment
19. What are you wearing? clothes
20. Your TV? Stored
21. Your pets? Far-away :(
22. Friends? family
23. Your life? chaos
24. Your mood? sleepy
25. Missing someone? YUP
26. Vehicle? cracked!
27. Something you’re not wearing? Socks
28. Your favorite store? Target
29. Your favorite color? Teal
30. When was the last time you laughed? For real? New Orleans
31. Last time you cried? Monday
32. Your best friend? Mom/Hub
33. One place that I go to over and over? Beach ( damn fish! yes I'm bitter! )
34. One person who emails me regularly? Izzy
35. Favorite place to eat? Home.





Now for the tagging. ... I dont know if I have 6 so if your reading this its all you!

Toegate 2009

WARNING: The following post is laden with nasty descriptions of a medical nature. If you squeamish, turn back now. Once your strapped in to the ride its like a train wreck that you cant look away from. Please, turn back now if you don't want to hear about my night in the ER... Really I don't blame you... go now run!



So the two of you that are still reading this, HI! ( Also Hi MOM.... I know your one of the 2... ; ) )

It. Got. Worse. Much worse, yesterday. By the time my husband got home at around 5 it looked as though my foot had been inflated by a bicycle pump, and my toe was covered in very swollen blister like things. Also and this is the part that made my husband force me to the ER, there was a really nasty black spot right where my toe joins with the foot.

So we hobbled to the car at about 5pm, and stopped off for dinner, because we both thought that was going to be spending some time in the hospital given the above described scariness. We got to the ER and it was a full up mad house in there. I guess Wednesday night is the cool time to go to the ER. We I checked in with the charge nurse, who rolled her eyes at me when I told her I'd been there on Monday, and gotten worse. I could almost hear the voice in her head say " Yeah, surrrrrrrre you have..." and we sat. Two hours till I got in to the trauma bay to get looked at. That nurse was the same one that gave me my hurt foot shoe that I conveniently "lost" as soon as I was coherent enough to take it off on Monday. She was all ... uuuuuuuummmm that's gross... glad you came in. Then we got to sit for two more hours, lucky us!

I got a room, and eventually the Doc came in and I told him my something bit me while I was in the ocean story. He poked my foot, and told me that he thought it was a bad allergic reaction to fish venom of some kind. He popped a couple of the blisters, and cultured them. I had xrays to rule out bone infection, and blood work, and they gave me Benadril, and Zantax. And then they sent me home, with new prescriptions, that seem to be working. It was almost 1:30 am when we got to leave the ER.

My foot is better, and less itchy, and burny, less swelling, and less blister thingies. I already feel better.

This is the one with the frustration, and the itching!

So, you might have noticed this is not a watch me shrink post. To be honest I have no idea where I am at with weight loss this week because I am unable to go to the gym. A couple of weeks ago I got pinched by a crab in the ocean. It looked like it had healed completely, but it didn't and I spent yesterday in the ER.

My foot had swollen to three times its size and my toe is covered in blisters. Its nasty. I have Cellulitis. YAY! ... NOT!!! I have spent the last two days in bed with my foot propped up on a pillow. I can't work out or really do anything. I'm hoping that the antibiotics and anti-inflammatory work fast because I am already bored, and this is awful.

Maybe next week I can get back into the gym.

Where Do We Go From Here?

That is a question Hub and I have gone half crazy thinking about over the last three years of life as an infertile cupple. We have talked about the next steps alot in the past cupple of weeks, and we are quickly comming to a conclusion.

I am going to find a new RE when we get to MI, first thing after finding a place to live. I have been researching doctors online, and there aren't all that many in the area where we will be. In a way that has been a good thing because it has made our choice a lot easier. ( If anyone out there is in MI and knows a great RE please feel free to let me know. Thanks!! )

Im not really sure what our treatment plan will be as far as meds go. Nothing we have tried has ever wroked for me. I really hope something works for us this time. More than anything we want to be called mom and dad.

If I do not reach my goal weight before I find a primary care doctor, and get a refural to an RE, I will continue working torward my goal, and working to become a mom at the same time.

We are planing to just try ovulation induction to start. Then if it doesn't work after I actually ovulate for a cupple cycles we will reasses, and decide where to go from there.

Watch Me Shrink AND Plan Reassessment.

This week I weighed in at 194. : ) That's a loss of 4 lbs since my last formal weigh in, on 8/24. It equals out to about a pound per week. I am very happy with this considering all the junk food I ate while traveling.

Its been a little while since I did a formal weigh in post, so I thought this would be a good time to reassess my eating and fitness plan.

Eating Plan:


My eating plan has been really off for the past month or so, since we have been on the move. I have been following calorie restriction for the last two weeks, and it has been going well, with the exception of a few days that I went a little over my allotted calories for the day. ( My birthday... *cough*... so it really doesn't count...)

The New and Improved Plan.

* Eat no more than my allotted calories per day. (Currently about 1500.) Decreasing them as needed, as my weight goes down to continue losing the weight.

If you are interested, here is a decent calculator to determine how many calories you need for a day. To lose weight, subtract 500 for one pound per week, or 1000 for two pounds per week. I use an app on my iPhone to keep track of my calories each day. Its really great because it also reduces them automatically as my weight goes down.

* I'm going to think about what my food choices will do for my body, so that I make better food choices.

* I'm slowly going to cut down on my carb intake. I have insulin resistance related to PCOS, and limiting my carb intake will help me manage my insulin resistance, and help me with my health in the long run. I'm not going to give them up, but I am going to reduce the amount, and choose whole grains when ever possible.

* I am going to increase my water intake again.

Exercise Plan:

Since I have free access to a great gym for the next month I am planing on taking full advantage of it.

* I'm going to go a minimum of 1.5 miles at a moderate to vigorous pace on either the treadmill or the elliptical. ( between 3.5 and 5 ) 4 to 5 times a week.

* I am going to work one major muscle group alternating each day. Abs, arms & legs.

Goals:

* Small goal weight- 180 lbs. ( loss of 16 lbs)

* Ultimate goal- 175 lbs. ( I might decide to lose more based on how I feel and look)

* I want to be able to run 1 mile at 5 or higher on the treadmill or the elliptical without stopping, by November. I think this is very possible, as I ran three miles yesterday, and a mile and a half today with an average speed of 4.5. I think maybe this might happen before November... fingers crossed.

BMI and Weight

Starting Weight - 235lbs. BMI- 31.9 - Obese.

Current - 194 lbs BMI- 26.3 - Overweight.

Small goal - 180 lbs BMI - 24.4 - Normal.

Ultimate goal - 175 BMI - 23.7 - Normal.

Perfect Weekend... Almost... Also Holy Parentheses!

This weekend was one for the record books. We spent a good portion of it at the beach, in the beautiful, crystal clear, warm waters of the gulf of Mexico. Hub ran a 5K and I cheered him on, and we went to a Seafood Festival. Amazing.

Saturday:

We got up before the sun, got in the car and went downtown. Hub ran a 5k race and I cheered him on. I didn't run because I don't think I could run for the whole time, especially in the heat, also, there was a $25 a person buy in. Yeah... in my world that $25 dollars could go to buy a new outfit or shoes, or food, not to pay to have the privilege to run a race, and lose, because you know I'm not a world class athlete or anything. No thank you! ( P.S. this one did not benefit a charity. If it did than it might have been different.)



That's hub crossing the finish line at the 5k.

After the race we came back to our hotel room, and got cleaned up, and went to the Seafood Festival. I have to be honest, I Come from a place where our Seafood Fest is THE EVENT of the year. There are thousands of vendors and amazing food. So I set the bar high... a little too high. This one was nothing like that. It was about 2000 people crammed into a neighborhood park, with about 300 vendors, and not a whole lot of shade. Also, it was nowhere near the ocean. The food was expensive com paired to the 5 or 10 bucks I used to pay back home, and the worst part is that you had to order a whole meal, with sides, instead of getting to try alot of little things. But Hub and I still had fun.

After the eating fest, we went to the beach. I didn't have anything remotely like a bathing suit on but it was so hot I went swimming in a skirt and tank top. We found the most beautiful sea shells we have found anywhere. We collect them and use them to decorate our house, we have some from every beach we have ever been to. While hunting for shells under water ( because the bigger shells are to heavy to wash ashore) Hub swam into a jelly fish and got stung. (He was okay and it turned out to be not too bad of a sting.) We rushed out of the water and when we got to the sand a man told us he would be fine. (Even though I grew up on the beach I never had jelly fish issues... so I didn't really know.) The nice man also explained that there were turtles in the water eating the jelly fish. Hub trudged right back into the ocean to see the turtle. He said it was the closest he'd ever been to one. I saw it from the beach.



Sunday:

We went back to the beach, and continued hunting for shells. This time I wore a swim suit. We had been there for about two hours when hub called me over to look at something in the water. He was using the goggles to hunt for shells in the water and occasionally he finds a school of fish or some other cool thing and he gives me the goggles to look at it. I was on my way over to him and I felt this thing pinch my foot between my second and third toe. I assume it was a crab. It hurt so bad I was hysterical! We left the beach because my foot was bleeding and swelling, and I was in alot of pain. Let me tell you Internet, for such a little injury that thing sure did hurt alot! Now the top of my foot is all bruised, but its okay, and doesn't really hurt any more.

We learned an important lesson, the Gulf of Mexico is full of angry sea creatures, and we should be careful not to get to close to them.


I have made the decision to move my weigh ins to Tuesday. Mostly because the only scale I have access to is at the gym, and I work out in the afternoons on Monday. So check back tomorrow for my first real weigh in since I left VA.

Hello! Remember Me?

It's been a busy cupple of weeks! Lets see, I packed up our home in VA and headed north west to Detroit. I got mistaken for a hooker by a crak head in Pittsburgh. I spent a week with my in-laws in Michigan and I had a good time. We made our way slowly south to Florida, with stops in Cinncinnati and Nashville. I got to scratch two of the Places to see before I die off my list. ( Nashville and the Gulf Coast.) I got alot closer to Hub and I feel like we've made up for some of that lost time. Oh and I turned 24 yesterday. Get popcorn and a tastey beverage, settle into a comphy spot and get ready for a long and sometimes funny post. Oh there will be pictures!

Part One : Goodbye Virginia!



That is me, inside my ex-fridge, scrubbing it. No it wasn't dirty really, I'm just one of those people who are finatcial about makeing sure we get our security deposit back. We slept on an air bed or a week and I cleaned and Hub finished up at work. We also vistied all of the places we knew we would miss.



Goodbye Virginia Beach! We will miss you!

Part Two: Pittsburgh.

There are no pictures of this part.

Because the drive to Detroit was about 10 or more hours, and we were in two seperate cars at that point, we broke it up in to two legs. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh falls somewhere around the middle of that journey. Sorry if I offeneded anyone who might live there. Okay, no I'm really not. The people I met there were batshit crazy. Including the man who walked up behind me as I waited outside the bagel place with our dogs, for Hub to get our breakfast.

The night we got to Pittsburgh it was about 6:30, and we were starving! So after cleaning up a little bit, and taking the dogs out. We hit the street to find something to eat. I saw a lot of promising looking places while lost and driving around the same three blocks looking for the parking garage that the hotel staff said was out side of the hotel, PS, it was under it. But to our supprise we soon found that they had all closed at 5pm. Even McDonnalds. Yeah, you read that right. All of the businesses closed at or before 5, every single one in the city, except for a few dive bars. That's where we ended up. In a smokey dive bar, with the most discusting food you can immagine. I ordered a salad, and it was ineatable. I'll leave it at that.

The next morning, Hub and I were still starving, so off we went to a bagel place. Hub went in, and I waited outside with Ty and Buddy. While I was out there, I heard this man yelling from down the street, "How Much!?" Over and over. I didn't think He was talking to me. He couldn't be. Why would he be? There I was, standing out side of the bagel place, in my ratty traveling clothes. Dogs tangleing me up with they're leashes. The crazy man walked right up to me, and said, and I quote, "Oh your married, I thought you were a hooker." Then he staggered off.

I was pretty floored. to say the least, Hub came out and I told him what had happened and he hugged me and we went back to the cars and left. Also right then we crossed Pittsburgh off our list of places to go back to.

Part Three: Michigan.



After the crazyness in Pittsburgh, we headded off to Detroit. We saw all kinds of family and never sat still not for even one minute. But somehow it was relaxing. We went to two diffrent cider mills, in the search for the best cider and doughnuts. The best ones were up by Hub's Grandparrent's house. It had been about three years since either of us had cider, so that was a real treat. We went to the Romeo peach festival, and it was alot of fun. That picture above is of Hub, me, and my sister in-law. waiting for the prarade to start.

Sadly at the end of the week, we had to leave Detroit, and our dogs behind. I miss them alot.

Part Four: Cinncinnati



When we left, Michigan, we made our way slowly south. We stopped the first night in Cinncinati. They had a street party that night, and we had some really good food. Cinncinati was a really nice stop over.

Part Five: Nashville In Pictures.








That's me on stage at the Ryman. That was a life long dream come true.





That night we went out and hit the clubs on Broadway. Immagine my supprise when we walked into The Stage and this is who we saw singing:



We will be going back to Nashville on the way back up to Michigan, and I can't wait!

A New Look...

... for a brand new start.

Since I'm moving right now, and I get a fresh start I thought it was time to change up the background of this pit in which I spew my insanity.

There's something about laying on a leaky air mattress on my living room floor, in my empty house, listening to katydids chirp, and feeling the breeze blow a faint hint of fall through the window, that makes change feel comfortable. Like clockwork, every two years just as hurricane season rolls in, we roll out. To a new life, a fresh start, a different duty station for Hub, and a new job for me. All of our belongings get boxed up and sent to where ever the Navy deems should be our new home. This year that place is Detroit.

Detroit, the land of recession and job loss. Good for Hub, he's going to be a recruiter. Maybe, not so good for me, I don't know if there is a job there for me, but I will find out. There are plans to get a degree, and to find a new RE and begin the baby making process again.

Somewhere in the suburbs of Motor City Hub grew up, his side of our scattered family lives there, well most of it anyway. So that will be good for us. We have yet to live anywhere near family, unless you count that year we lived 4 hours from my Mom as near. I don't. I didn't get to see her as much as I had hoped, with all the crazy IF treatment and what not.

So tonight, I'm bracing myself for a 2 week road trip with exciting stops. Such as, Pittsburgh, and Nashville, and all of the rest areas between. Followed by living remotely for a month in FL, on the pan handle during hurricane season. Followed by a road trip back up to Detroit. My life right now is chaos. I'm afraid there is no other word for it, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Back in the Sneakers Agian.

Today I hopped back on the treadmill. I hadn't ran at all in at least a week, and I haven't had any sort of routine for the past month.

I'm really out of shape. After ten minutes on the treadmill I had to stop. My lungs burned, my shins hurt. Worst of all I felt every little bit of flab smacking and jiggling. It was awful, and I couldn't finish my twenty minutes. I feel pretty terrible about this, and I realized that I can't stop working out. I can't do that to myself.

So my new plan is to really make a a huge effort to work out more consistently. I need to keep on this path, and move forward, and not in reverse.