what I did on the hottest Saturday ever

I got the brilliant idea to take this:



Remove all of this:



and, after 3 grueling (for everyone), hot, sweaty hours, end up with this:



He has an appointment to go to the groomer - they'll fix up his feet and his face because he won't let me do much with them - but it's not until July 2nd, and there was no way I could let him go shaggy with it being 90 degrees and jungle-humid here, and me with no A/C! So, I dropped $25 on a new set of clippers, we set up my mom's grooming table on the front porch, and went to town! We had both more than had our fill by the end of things, but he was such a little trooper and it came out way better that I had figured it would. Sharp blades make a world of difference! You can't really tell from the picture, but he's down to a very tight buzz-cut now. We're talking like...Marines style. He's much more comfortable, and it was well worth the time and money to get him there! Also, I'm figuring I lost at least 8 lbs in sweat alone...hah!

a wake up call

I went for an ultrasound on Monday. The main reason was to peer into my annoying-ass gall bladder and see what was going on. Turns out there's two good-sized stones in there. My PA seemed to think they weren't blocking anything and would probably be fine, but she wants me to meet with a surgeon just to make sure. That's all well and good...I can do that. So long as the threat of surgery is not imminent, I can deal.

What took me aback when talking to the PA this morning was the fact that she said you can see in the ultrasound where there are fatty deposits in my liver. That, as you may or may not know, isn't a great thing. The more fatty your liver gets, the more it gets scarred and messed up until you end up with cirrohsis or cancer or any number of other not so fun things. The GOOD news is, it's reversible. I can still turn this train around. I have to be diligent with my diet and I MUST start being more active. Not half-assed more active...I mean, REALLY more active.

I think this was just the kick in the pants I needed. If you've been following Maggie's and my posts on Two Fat Friends, you know that I've probably not been putting as much dedication into the weight loss thing as I could be...but I'm galvanized, now. No more excuses. No more screwing around. I want to live a long, happy life, and not be sick for it. I can do so much better than I've been doing, and now is the time. If I don't do it now, it's going to be too late, and I refuse to let that happen.

a me-me...for you!

Jenn the Ready-To-Pop Production Maven tagged me, so I shall oblidge!

The rules: Post these at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer. Play nice, children.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Ten years ago this month, I was worrying about whether I was going to graduate from high school, believe it or not. I had screwed off for...oh...the last 3 years, basically...and I was several credits short as of mid-year my senior year. I had to make up an English class after school 3 days a week AND pull an independant study out of my ass (I taught poetry-writing to 6th graders. Total stroke of genius on my part...easiest thing ever!) to make up the credits I needed. Even then, it was literally down to the wire as to whether I would pass Spanish (which I loved, but never did the homework in) and be able to march with my class. I made it in the end...but this time 10 years ago, I was NOT a happy bunny...*laughs*

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today? Well, one was a doctor's appointment, which I have already been to. It was basically a big fat waste of time, but that's another rant entirely. Also, I have to do some work at some point, I guess. I need to walk the dog when I get home. What am I up to? Three. Hmm. Ok, I wanted to exercise today, and I did that this morning, so that counts. At some point I also need to wash some dishes. There. That was hard.

3. Snacks I enjoy: I love whole wheat crackers (the new All-Bran ones are my current obsession), plain popcorn, nuts, yogurt, pretzels, Cheetos (although I don't have them often...just say no!), and I love cookies of all makes and models, unfortunately...hah!

4. Places I've lived: Fairlee, VT, Thetford, VT, Johnson, VT, Norwich, VT, andddddd...that's actually it, if you can believe it!

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: travel, travel, travel. Pay off all my parents' and Mark's parents' bills and buy them nice houses. Buy my Nana something fabulous, although I'm not sure what. Go back to college. Set up a foundation to fund music education in public schools. Help fundraise for local humane socities. Hire a bunch of people to try and figure out how to save the world. Possibly run for President so that I could clean out all the fucking crooks in there now. Have a farm and facility for wildlife rehabilitation.

6. Peeps I want to know more about:

Vermontgirl
Bapple

I can't think of anyone else with a blog right now. It's Friday afternoon...gimme a break! :)

while you wait...

Hey! While you wait for me to come up with something semi-interesting to post here (it's coming, I promise...things have been hectic lately), why don't you surf on over to my other blog that I just started with my best friend, Maggie: Two Fat Friends . We're attempting to chronicle our weightloss efforts and help motivate each other. We could also both do with whatever outside motivation we can get, I'm sure...;)

blog fodder

I lifted this from Chaotic Crafter's blog...:) I'm not really in the frame of mind to write a coherent post lately...so you get blog fodder.

1. How old will you be in 3 years?31

2. Do you think you'll be married by then?Yesh!

3. What do you look forward to most in the next 2 months?Mark visiting in July! It's ALMOST 2 months...cut me some slack.

4. Who was the last person you called?myself...I called home to check my messages. There weren't any.

5. Have you ever played a team sport?Yep...played basketball in middle school, even though I usually satthe bench. Also played baseball all through elementary school andmiddle school. Didn't play sports in high school because I was prettysure I wasn't good enough and I wasn't interested in everyone knowingjust how not good I was. I now wish I'd have played softball...but,meh.

6. Who was the last person to text you?no one texts me. I don't have a cell phone! :)

7. Who was the last person you hugged?My Nana on her birthday.

8. What were you doing at midnight last night?probably sleeping, since I don't remember it.

9. Parents separated/divorced/married?still married, through some miracle of the universe....lol They're notalways happy, but they're together, DAMN IT! ;)

10. Last time you saw your dad?yesterday. I drove by and he was working in the yard...I tossed himthe devil horns.

11. What happened at 9:00 a.m. today?work stuff. I was only semi-concious at that point so I can't give youspecifics.

12. How many states have you visited?VT, NH, ME, MA, NY, KY, PA (airport only, but still counts), FL(airport), TX (airport)...I think that's it. That's...9? Sweet!

13. If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?At home, watching a movie with Mark and Buttons.

14. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?bare feet. I get grumpy if I have to wear shoes for too long.

15. Are you a social person?social with people I know and like...anti anti anti with people Idon't know. New people skeer me.

16. What was the last thing you drank?water. Lots of it. I'm about due for some more.

17. Favorite ice cream?never met an ice cream I didn't like, honestly. I'm a huge fan of justplain old-skool ice cream sandwiches. Mmm!

18. What is your favorite dessert?I love love tiramisu. Or any type of chocolate cake. The darker anddenser, the better.

19. Whats your favorite color?I'm drawn to anything bright and saturated...and I also love grey. Nota huge fan of teal, though.

20. What Jelly do you put on your PBJ?raspberry is best.

21. Do you like coffee?I don't like it...I LOVE it! And...I need it.

22. How many glasses of water a day do you drink on average? I try to get in 2 liters, minimum. Ideally I should be doing 3...butthat's a lot of trips to the bathroom and I can't always make myselfdo it. Drink, that is...not get to the bathroom.

23. What do you drink in the morning?20 oz coffee with milk, then water water water all day long.

24. Would you rather kiss someone with or without a tongue ring?never kissed anyone with one, but I don't think I'd like it.

25. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?left if you're standing at the end of the bed. Always have...not surewhy. And I always wake up curled on my right side, right on the veryedge of the bed.

26. Do you know how to play poker?I know texas hold 'em but I have NO talent for it.

27. Whats so good about Fridays?payday, last day of having to work before 2 days off, that's about it...

28. Any plans to visit the green monkeys on GoofyAuctions.com?none whatsoever...

29. Do you eat out or at home more often?home.

30. How big is your TV?I have no clue...27", maybe? It's not big, but it's not tiny.

31. Ever stolen a street sign?not street signs, technically. campaign signs, yes. lawn ornaments, yes.

32. Do you keep a piggy bank?I did until I busted it a few weeks ago, trying to get the plug out ofit. Stupid pig.

34. Have you ever been in an ambulance?thankfully, no.

35. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?pool for swimming in, ocean for looking at / being at / wading in.

36. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat?Window when there's stuff to see. Aisle if it's just going to be oceanthe whole time.

38. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?yarn, good food, alcohol, pretty things, stuff for Mark

39. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7?engagement ring on my left hand, silver band on my right hand, my "S"necklace.

40. Do you speak any other language?Spanish

41. Can you roll your tongue?yes.

42. Who is the funniest person you know?My mom and dad both can be pretty funny when they want to be.

43. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?no. I used to have a Cookie Monster that played music that I sleptwith from when I was a baby until it literally fell to pieces when Iwas like 12 or 13. That was a sad, sad day...*sniff*

44. What is the main ring tone on your phone?don't have a cell phone. My house phone just rings...like a normalphone. Wouldn't it be cool if they made landline phones you couldprogram with ring tones, though?! ROCK!

45. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?No. I have my blankie, still...that's it.

46. What is the color of your bedroom wall?wood colored. My whole house is barn boards.

47. Do you shut off the water when you brush your teeth?Yes...although I never even thought about that until just now!

48. Are you crushing on someone right now?No...I have a fiance...I think I can finally be out of crush mode for good...

49. Do you currently hate someone?Nah. Life's too short.

50. Why do you take surveys?Because sometimes I'm JUST THAT BORED.

drama, drama, everywhere!

What is it about the last few weeks?! Have you noticed that everything has been like drama-central lately?! Or is it just me and all the people in my general vicinity? It's amazing. There are people in bad relationships having guns waved at them, people going VERY MUCH bonkers in front of little kids, unfortunate examples of the "what goes around comes around" principle catching up to people, people who can't just say NO to other people and end up getting dragged through all kinds of mud because of it, computer systems breaking / not functioning correctly and sending everyone into a tizzy, and of course, the clincher:

I haven't been able to knit hardly at all lately because my shoulder / arm on my left side is all screwed up. Of course, given my issues and my propensity to think that I'm about to drop dead of something (anything?!) at any given moment, I took the left arm pain & weakness to be obvious signs of a heart attack. I mean, of course it would be! Because I'm 28 years old and mostly pretty healthy, aside from being too fat. So I went to the doctor yesterday, she poked me all over, told me it's all muscular, and is sending me to physical therapy. Crisis averted, as usual. The up-side is that while I didn't get any fun prescriptions like Flexaril or anything, she said there's a good chance the physical therapist will prescribe some massage sessions. Woo hoo! Insurance-covered massage! Well, my not being in any danger of croaking is good too, I guess.

Add to all these scenarios the fact that the MDC (Mouse Death Count - for those new to my blog: I live in an old barn and have a seasonal issue of being over-run with mice. I can't figure out where they get in, so the humane traps unfortunately don't do me any good. I have to use snap traps, and it breaks my heart. Seriously.) is up to 7 just this week alone...and yeah. It's been a long week already, and it's only Wednesday!

lies

I'm supposed to be able to get a free credit report / see my score for free online from the "big 3" - TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, once a year. It's a law. So how come they all want my credit card information in order to give me this "free" information? And why do I then have to watch my bank account like a hawk for months to make sure I don't keep getting charged for "credit monitoring" services from the site I have to go through to get the "free" reports to begin with? I've got one that charges me $9.99 a month for this service. I have called them, I have emailed them, I have asked the bank to deny the charges...but they just keep hitting my card. It's not like it's a service that doesn't exist...I can get on their website, log in, and see credit alerts and whatever...but my point is that I never asked for it and I don't want it, and they won't let me cancel. It's frigging annoying.

You know what else annoys me? The weather. 60 degrees yesterday. Howling tundra winds of icy pain today. This has been the longest winter ever and I am SO ready for it to be over.

I opened a savings account last week. I'm having $25 per paycheck dumped into it automatically. My hope is that I'll forget about it. It's an online account (INGdirect.com) with a really good interest rate. I'd highly recommend this bank if you're interested in setting up a savings account. It was quick and super-easy in addition to having the great interest rate. If I was more in tune with my finances, I'd have my whole checking account balance transferred into the account to make the interest off it, and just transfer money out for payments as necessary. That's not something I can currently handle, though.

I haven't been knitting much lately, mostly because a friend of mine got me hooked on Lost. She lent me the first 2 seasons on DVD and I can't stop watching it. It's insane. I love it and I can't stand to be without it. I never thought a TV show would do this to me...but it has. Also, on the knitting front, I've basically had to re-learn everything because it was pointed out to me that I was doing everything ass-backwards. That's been fun...not. My way was actually mostly fine...just sometimes my decreases came out looking different than everyone else's. But...since I eventually want to be able to knit lace, I suppose it's best to re-learn things the right way now.


The weather and general goings-on at both jobs have kind of got me grumpy / fed up this week. A lack of proper sleep hasn't been helping, either. I have mice in my house and I've been trying to be humane and catch the mice in little hav-a-heart type traps so I can release them far away from home. Trouble is, the mice get in the traps shortly after I go to bed, and then spend all night scuffing and bumping around in them, trying to get out...and I can hear it because my house isn't very big. It's either a) get up in the middle of the night, get dressed, hike across a field in the snow and cold and release a mouse, or b) wait till morning and do it when I'm walking the dog. I vote for B...hence the noise of the mouse keeping me up all fricking night long. I'm going to enact a new plan this weekend, though. I'm going to get a little plastic box and put some shavings in it. Then, when the mouse gets into the trap at stupid-o-clock at night, I'll just go downstairs, empty the mouse from the trap into the plastic mouse holding-pen, and go back to bed. No noise, no dead mice, and no hiking across the field in the middle of the night. Everybody wins!