The best laid plans, can faulter

Yes, I had great visions of doing well with writing and as they say...mother nature won the battle.  I have been battling the flu or some other virus since before the New Year.  I really thought after this past weekend, I was on the downhill slide.  Then, Monday happened.  Clearly I didn't sound well, didn't look well on top of my knowing I really felt like ass.  By noon, Runner convinced me to go home.  After a 4 hour nap, I found some food and back to bed I went.  I think that I am really blessed with two fabulous fur babies.  Yes, most of you see them as the two that go 100 MPH and never slow down.  However, even Mr. Finn snuggled up to momma almost every day staying close to momma to make sure that I was going to be okay.  Outside of a few trips to do business and have some food & water...he was laying in bed.

Now, being the stubborn German that I am...I truly felt I was going to get over all this crap on my own.  Even Momma Bear said go to the doctor and I said no.  But that was Tuesday.  Wednesday I was sure I could go to work.  I did...for all of 20 minutes, hit a wall and back home I went.  I was patient and waited till the doctor's office opened up at 8:30 and made my call.  She figured I was over the tail end of the flu and ended up with a sinus infection out of it all.  Lucky me.  But, it is Friday and I don't feel 100% but feel 100% better than I did two days ago...so work it was.  Plus I get two more rest days after today too!

So, my exciting news is that I am officially done with PT and have been signed off by the doctor for Bootsie.  I am a long way to go before I can try and start jogging again, which saddens me.  BUT, it gives me something to work for.  I have to be able to walk 3 miles with an average of 15 min pace.  Easier said than done but then again, I take the dogs and if you take away the "breaks" I might have a shot at it.  Whatever the case - I am just excited to break a sweat again...especially with the Biggest Loser back on. 

So, who knows maybe I'll be able to complete one of my 2012 resolutions in 2013...my goal for 2012 was 3 races...I managed two before injury.  Maybe this year I can get 3 three in.  Here's to trying and my 2013 goal of being a healthier me.

Money, Money, MON-EY!

One of the big things for me this year is making my budget work.  Yes, I live off a budget and then I get lazy and things fall by the wayside and then it becomes juggling money from this account to that account to cover eating out too much or whatever.  Who's been there?

So, for step one of the new year...I redid my budget.  Thank you Mint.com for making my life easy.  If you have never heard of mint.com or don't know where to start with managing your money...Mint.com is where you go.  As I learned with Dave Ramsey's school, you should plan where you spend your money at the beginning of the money versus figuring out where it went at the end of the month.

Does the initial set up take some time?  Absolutely!  But think about it, anything worth doing takes a commitment.  If I wanted to play softball in college, I just couldn't step out on the field on game day...I had to practice.  If I want to do a race, I can't show up on race day...I had to do runs before hand. 

But now that I have got through the initial commitment, guess what?  Yep, it takes a minute a day every morning.  I can log in, make sure that my money coming out of each account is going out of the correct budget category and guess what...it even remembers it for next time!  Every morning, in ONE MINUTE, I know exactly where I am at and guess what...there is an app for it!  :)

Step two was this great idea I heard on the radio this morning.  So props really go to the JB and Sandy Morning Show.  It is the dollar a week savings play.  For each week of the year, you save that week.  So, week 1, you save one dollar.  Check.  Week 2, you save $2 and you continue through the weeks.  I have included the picture they added.  Don't get me wrong, the end of the year will be tough and maybe I'll mix in some of those later weeks into the earlier part of the year.  However, at the end of the year I have saved $1,378!!!  That doesn't factor in interest either. 

Now I challenge you for 2013...make it the year that you spend your money at the beginning of the month versus wondering where it went at the end of the month.  Plus put away the week of the year into savings each week. 

2013 resolution of making my finances right!

Another one bites the dust...

At NFP that is.

It started with my departure in October.  I know I didn't blog about it...ooopsie.  But, given the previous blogs, it should come as no surprise that I was not happy at my job.  I think the finally breaking point was when one of the guys on our team transferred to another department and my manager honestly suggested I take his position which he described as "entry level".  Really, you think so highly of me.

But that is water under the bridge, I am on to greener pastures.  And so to is Grace.  I think it is safe to say that Grace was just as unhappy as I was, maybe even more so.  Yesterday was her last day and so the girls got together to toast the occasion.   And toast we did.  Five bottles of Champagne did the trick.

I love my girls Grace, Gwen & Harriet.  We are all so different in so many regards and so similar in others.  I always had the ability to talk to them at work.  I saw them everyday.  However, it wasn't until I left that realized how important these girls were.  It was after I left that there was more than just work and as I told them last night, I think they become deeper relationships after leaving because you don't have that age old talk of how crappy work is to fall back on.  I've moved on and have grown from it.  Grace is now moving on.  Our friendship is not defined by our job but who each of us are.  Love you ladies!

And yes that is one of the 2013 resolutions, spending more time with those that are the important people in my life!

New Year...

New Resolutions...right?


So who knows, maybe I should blog more? I mean I clearly have some silent stalkes out there....I'm sure I can find something to entertain you with. I have a lot of resolutions this year and I think blogging just might help me.

That said, just know my resolutions are about making my life better and keeping the happiness.  I mean the picture below says why anything else would just be silly.

So what makes this even better is that my truly awesome parents bought me a tablet for Christmas and as they say...there is an app for that. Who knew that I could blog from my tablet. Although I'm pretty sure that typing on a normal keyboard will be easier some days!

So, two days in to the new year and we have one blog post and one workout recorded. I would say that was a WINNING moment!

Stay tuned, 2013 will be the best yet!!!

On a side note...editing is going to be easier at a real computer!

Eat, Drink, & Be Married

Slide show of Paradise



That was the theme of the wedding, so the drink coozies said.  It was a three day weekend in South Padre Island, Tx.  Definitely wanted to be there longer.

NoDIY and I headed out Friday morning and our first stop was San Antonio airport.  KPY girl, one of my good friends & sorority sisters from Hasting College, was flying in from Minnesota.  So excited to see her since it has been way too long, 14 years to be exact.  I had to miss the "girls" trips when they had them because it was right after moving to Texas and didn't have a lot of vacation.  Well that and some of the girls that went annoyed the crap out of me and I didn't want to spend that many days in confined area with them. 

So the first order of business was lunch, it was after 1:30 pm and way late for me.  We found some random mom & pop Mexican restaurant that was cheap and really good food.  Then it was back on the road.  About 7 miles down the road, NoDIY asked if I bothered to look at a map.  Now he has been to the coast before, why would I do that?  Silly me, silly him.  Long story short, I think we ended up extending our trip about at least 60 miles, if not more.  When you are talking about a 5 hour drive when taking the right route, 60 miles is a big oopsie.

We finally got in South Padre Island around 7 pm and checked into the hotel.  Pixie (the bride and a college friend) was having people over to the house they rented after the reception.  So, KPY girl, NoDIY and I went to an all  you can eat seafood and prime rib buffet.  The food was really good and the entertainment was just as good!  Of course, the singer did point out that I had two different shoes on while I was in line for the buffet.  Then some how it was brought up that we were from Nebraska, so we were picked on for that too.  But it was all in good fun.  Afterwards, we headed to Pixie's where we met a bunch of other people.  From there, it was off to a bars for a pre-celebration.

Saturday was a relaxing day.  We all slept in and then headed out for a late breakfast.  After breakfast, we hit a few of the tourist shops to see if there was anything we just couldn't live without.  With shopping out of the way, the only thing left to do was the beach!  It was a beautiful day, well after we finished burning our feet in the sand getting to the water.  I know understand what the warning was about!!! 

At 430ish, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.  Let's just say there was about 5000 pounds of sand in our suits.  I can only imagine what the hotel staff goes through during Spring Break week!  I had never been to a beach wedding before and let's just say it was amazingly beautiful.  It was simple, the surf was crashing on the beach and well Pixie was just a beautiful bride!  The ceremony itself was short and we were done within 30 minutes.  Afterwards, it was off to the restaurant for the celebration! 

Sunday, well it was hangover, no sleep, drive day.  KPY girl had a 6 pm flight out of San Antonio.  NoDIY and I had to make a pit stop for his job and so it was 8:45 before I had picked up the dogs and could say I was home.  What a long weekend but so worth it!

Operation Bootsie

Yes, I know, I know.  Spare me the lectures, I realize it has been forever and a day since I last blogged.  Okay, well more like six months but life has been busy.  I can only promise to try and be better.

So, now that I have that out of the way, I think the first order of business for catch up would be Operation Bootsie.  Yes, I have name the boot.  In the picture below, she was so pretty, so new, so shiny.  Today, not so much.  Bootsie and I have been close friends for exactly 11 weeks and 5 days.  That is exactly 1,968 hours of my summer fun that have been lost to her. 

So, my introduction to Bootsie seemed harmless.  The story actually begins sometime in April.  I noticed that in the morning, it hurt to walk.  It felt like things in my heel were really tight and were going to split in two.  But, during the day, things didn't hurt and well, who are we kidding, I sure wasn't giving up soccer, softball two nights a week and my runs three times a week or walking the dogs.  So, I just lived with it.  Well then May came and so came a week of rain and then a week of vacation.  All of that translated to rest for the foot and no workouts.  You would think things would be better?  Not so much.  Things actually felt worse that day NoDIY and I were scrambling through the airport and I was in flip flops on our way back to Austin.  So, I opted for tennis shoes the next day when I went back to work and the pain was there all day.  Doctor's appointment here we come.

So, May 18th marked the beginning of my relationship with Bootsie.  The X-ray showed that I had a partial Achilles tendon tear at some point that resulted in a heal spur.  They also felt that I had a new partial  Achilles tendon tear that was rubbing on the spur.  So, conservative treatment was the route they went.  For the next five weeks I had the privilege of living life in Bootsie and just relaxing.

Well, after that wonder five weeks, there was no real change so Bootsie and I went into Phase II of conservative treatment.  That consisted of four more weeks of Bootsie, physical therapy twice a week, high doses of oral steroids, topical steroids and an insert heel lift in the boot. Let's just say that as long as no physical therapy treatment involved weight bearing activities, the heel was happy.  Insert I can ride a bike with no issue but if you asked me to stand and do stretches, things were pretty sore the next day.  Then there was the weekend when the Therapist suggested that I do heel lifts in chest high water in the pool.  3 sets of 10 seemed easy enough.  Thankfully the next day was a Sunday because my heel hurt so bad in the boot, let alone out of it, that I spent most of the day in the recliner.  Needless to say, things were not getting better.

So, back to the doctor I went.  It was a lovely 10 minute discussion how the next step was to schedule me to come back for an MRI.  And to think that only cost me $140 for the doctor to tell me that.  So, that was Monday and Wednesday I had the MRI.  On Friday, July 27 things officially became Operation Bootsie.

The good news is that there is no tear in the Achilles Tendon that would require repair and a long, long recovery.  That said, there is a slew of other problems.  I do have a heel spur that they will remove and they are confident that they can do it without having to cut the Achilles Tendon or severing it, all of which change recovery time.  I also have Achilles Bursitis which you can read more by clicking here.  Some how they can fix that when they are in there.  I also have, while small, Haglund's Deformity which they also will repair.  You can click here to learn more on that.  All of these work together to make my life miserable which in flats and when I am out of the boot. 

While I have enjoyed Bootsie, there is some end in sight for our relationship.  I have surgery scheduled on August 23rd.  If things go as they expect, I will go home that day in my walking boot and will have just 4 to 6 more weeks left in Bootsie.  The downside is that since it is my right foot, there will be no driving for me for at least two weeks.  Needless to say, I will have cabin fever and NoDIY might be done with me.  :)

And there you have it, Operation Bootsie.



More Changes

You know, I think I am tired of changes and challenges.  Can I just have normal for awhile?  Of course, when I look at some of the things that my friends are going through, my changes don't seem that bad. 

So what am I talking about you ask?  Well back in October I went to the doctor to go through my test results in which my blood sugar was higher than what it should be.  Well, after 3 months of exercising and trying to lose weight, it was time to go back to the doctor on Monday.

After going through the generals, the first thing they did was a finger prick to check my blood sugar level.  Now, keep in mind I was fasting but they kept asking me if I had been fasting.  I knew that wasn't good, so I fired of a text to my mom to see what her's normally was since she is diabetic.  She responded that it was at it's highest 113 but usually lower than that.  Well, my number read 115.  Uggh!

So, after confirming once again that I was fasting, they did the big needle blood draw to check my A1C.  Now, this number measures your blood sugar level over a 3 month period.  My first number was 5.7.  My understanding is that a normal person usually averages 5.5, but the number should fall within in 4 and 5.9.  So, I wasn't terrible the first time.  However, yesterday I got the call that my number was 6.0 this time.  So, it was high.  I secretly think it was my mom's Christmas goodies that threw my numbers off.

But, in any event, I am now labeled as Pre-Diabetic.  Given my family's history for it with my Grandma, Mom, Uncle and little brother all having it, they are not treating this diagnosis lightly.  Especially since all of my numbers have gone up in three months and not down. 

Definitely will have a lot of learning to do in the next few weeks and months in regards to what I can and cannot do.  I will have to take classes to learn about things, meet with a dietician and learn to take my blood sugar levels on a daily basis.  CHANGE...uggh!  Of course, it also means that I am learning to navigate my insurance and what will be covered, won't be covered, etc. 

On the bright side, I do have a very supportive partner in all of this.  NoDIY is on board and wants to know what he can do to help and what he needs to do different on the nights that he cooks.  (Have I mentioned I am spoiled?)  We have also set some goals as far as weight loss goes so that will also be nice to have that support in the house.  I think that I am doing really well from an exercise stand point in that I run 3 times a week and those run/walks are now up to 4.5 miles in an hour.  Not land record speed but I am getting it done.  Then, on the nights that I don't run, the dogs get a 2 mile walk.  Now we just need to learn the food piece and need to lose some weight to get things going in the right direction.