Testing My Follow Through

Let me just start off my saying that I am not good with routines. I may be able to stick to a routine for a few weeks, but then I stop. I’m not sure why this is. Sometimes, like when I was walking at Shelby Farms after work or anything requiring me to set my alarm early and actually get out of bed, my body refuses to continue. Other times I just get distracted or lose interest. For some reason I have a real problem with consistency. Apparently, good intentions don’t count. Why does this little tidbit matter? It matters because on Friday morning I started the NutriSystem Vegetarian meal plan. The amount of pre-packaged food for 35 days (28 days plus one free week) is a bit alarming. On top of all the food that is shipped I am supposed to supplement it with fresh fruit, veggies, dairy/protein and of course lots of water. So far, so good—only one small 24 hour period of eating off plan (but that’s another post). I’m enjoying putting together my fresh options and planning out my food for the day. I’m also making a list of the items to order next month (almond biscotti and pasta primavera with tofu are on the list) and which ones I hopefully will never see after this month is up (BBQ Soy chips, fettuccini alfredo, the chocolate raspberry lunch bar). I am even mastering the difficult task of drinking at least 64 oz of water day. While this may not seem like a big deal, keep in mind that I usually only drink a cup or two of coffee a day and maybe a small glass of water/juice if I remember. (If this is the same problem you have, keep in mind that the amount of trips you make to empty your bladder will greatly increase. By the end of the day I feel like I'm going every 30 minutes! Thank goodness for DVRs.) The next thing to add is that silly thing called exercise. Tonight I am going to try out the Walking DVD that came with my kit. It’s one of the Leslie Sansone DVDs and I’ve only seen good reviews of her things. I’ll let you know how it goes. And because I’m a girl, I’m going to track it like this and not mention the depressing starting weight: Workout Days: 0 Pounds lost: 0

Meet The Neighbors

Tuesday night I met some of my neighbors. I didn't meet them at a party or even out on the street. I met them because I boldly rang the doorbell and they answered. I was let into their nice house and met their two Jewish cats (Levi the Siamese and Isaac the Black). We got to chatting and discovered that the Mrs. is from Worcester County, MA and even spent some time in Portsmouth, VA. Small world. Our visit ended when I got a phone call and went back to my place. Did I mention that I got the phone call on their house phone? No? Well, I was emboldened to knock on their door after locking myself out of my house. I had no keys, no phone, no open doors or windows. Oh and the glass in my back door is strong enough to hold out against several tries to smash through it with a brick. My wonderful neighbors across the street let me use their phone so I could call someone to call someone who had a key and could let me in. (Since the advent of cell phones I don't know any one's number!) Guess that's the penalty for trying to be productive and attempting yard work.

Jumping Bean

Within 48 hours of coming home Daly was back to her old self. She continues to jump up and pounce on everything. If it weren't for the lingering glue in her front paws and the three stitches on her belly, you'd never know that she had surgery just days ago. She is adapting very well and has no problems jumping on the sofas and bed. She's even mastered the fine art of using her front paws to encircle a foot and then use the one-two punch of back claws and teeth. Would it be wrong to get her de-teethed, too? I kid, I kid. The proper term is "extraction of the teeth". After church on Sabbath E brought over her parents (visiting from the Arctic Massachusetts) to see my house and the girls. O'Malley allowed herself to be seen and then slipped up the stairs. Day, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of the company. It was good to see everyone enjoying themselves.

Worst Mommy Ever

Yesterday morning I dropped little 3 pound, 19 week old Daly off at the vet for her front declawing and spaying surgery. The vet called by a little before 4p to let me know that all went well. They said that there were no complications and Daly was resting in her little incubator with her "boxing gloves on". Daly had to spend the night there, but I picked her up a little after 11a today. She looked so pitiful. Her little paws tinged red with blood, her shaved belly sporting a line of stitches several inches long, and one back foot noticeable swollen from being bandaged after the IV was taken out. One look at her and I felt like the worst Mommy ever. Her scratchy cry was almost more than I could take (they intubated her for the anesthesia and her throat is a little irritated). She of course tried to claw her way out of the carrier which only started up the blood flow from her little paws. There are now little bloody paw prints on the carpet in the back room. She's going to be staying in the back room for a couple of days. The vet told me to limit the about of jumping that she does so that's the reason for her exile. I've set up a nice little living area for her. Of course the bathroom (she loves to jump in and out of tubs) and the back room door will stay closed (can't have O'Malley beating her up). The hard top carrier is on the floor with a couple of towels carpeting the bottom. I've brought in the litter box from upstairs and am using the vet recommended Yesterday's News litter. I've also set up a feeding station with fresh water, special canned food for kittens, some milk flakes treats for kittens, and kitten chow--I'm trying a new brand and will have to force her to eat it since she turned her nose up at the last one in favor of O'Malley's indoor cat/weight control food. She'll be tucked away for another couple of days until her paws are more fully healed. Here she is in her improvised cat bed. I hope that she forgives me. We go back in 10 days to get her stitches out.

How God Used an Internet Outage

Late last month we had an Internet outage at work. Since our email, accounting system, and of course the Internet were all down I decided to do something I haven't done in a while--go to a book store. I went in looking for a prayer journal. Not one of those dated daily prayer list books, more of a blank paged (inexpensive) journal that I could write out prayers in. The thought is that I am less likely to get distracted if I'm writing my prayers down. Anyway, I decided to look in the Religious Studies section first. Since this is the Bible Belt, the Religious Studies section is quite large and well stocked. I don't know why I decided to pick up He Loves Me, He Loves Me NOT by Trish Ryan, but it called out to me. I'm not usually drawn to all of the "poor single me, why is God doing this to me, I can't live a complete life without a husband, I'm cursed and no one will love me and I have no value because I have a barren womb" books. But since I couldn't get this book out of my head, I shelled out the $19.99 and brought it back to the office. Everything was still down and I had no desire to file--I will never have a desire to file--so I started reading. It was funny, honest, and not too preachy. Ryan's style reminded me of Jennifer Weiner, one of the few chick-lit authors I enjoy. By the end of the night I was 150 pages in and I finished the next day. (For me to devour books at this rate a trip to Oxford, ME is usually needed.) This book really spoke to me. Specifically, this prayer that Ryan used was a slap upside the head: "When you send the right guy Lord, let him make his intentions clear. Protect us from ambiguity. If he's your man, let him make the first move towards me, and let him want the type of relationship You created for us--exclusive, devoted, contemplating marriage. Don't let me get all worked up again on the wrong guy." I immediately copied down this quote in my new prayer journal and made copies for my bibles. Why did this strike a cord? Well, just before I started reading this book I was making arrangements to visit MPC in Boston, a former flame who seemed to want to reignite the spark but would close down (ie, vanish or ignore any plan prep I asked him about) when it came down to actual plan making. I couldn't read him or figure out what he really wanted. Did he just want to try to sleep to me? to date me? or just act like it? I was starting to get worked up over his current vanishing act. When I finished the book I realized that Easter-only-Catholic MPC was MIA because he wasn't the man God wanted me to be with. Once I stopped trying to make God honor my decisions, all desire to have any sort of non-platonic relationship with MPC disappeared. Sometimes I really hate being so stubborn and hard headed.