New chicks and re-evaluating

I got new chicks!
This isn't a big surprise and I plan on getting more in a few weeks to fully round out my flock to ten (or twelve) birds. The new chicks are a Blue Maran and a Silkie. I had two Silkies, but the second one didn't make it.
Sometimes that's life on a homestead. She was my favorite.
But this group of chicks is a lot more friendly than my first group. Of that group, only Little Miss allows me to pet her or pick her up. The other three just run.
Hey-Hey, our rooster is a very good protector of the girls. And thankfully we live in a town where no body minds the crowing.

A dog wandered into our yard the other day. While the majority of our yard is fenced in, our driveway is located on the side of our house and there is an open gate where that is. I pulled in from grocery shopping just in time to see a high flagged fluffy tail disappear behind our house. As soon as I parked the dog came back around and then trotted out past me and down the street. I ran to the backyard as I didn't see the chickens in their pen. Hey-Hey had them rounded up underneath the rabbit hutch and they were all hiding behind the potted plants being very very quiet.
As I said, he's a good protector.

The rabbits are a constant evaluation process. The Satin Angoras are going to be a true dual purpose breed for me as we ended up harvesting most of the kits from this spring. Both litters came down with a respiratory infection of some sort. None of them died from it, nor did any of the other rabbits get sick, so I'm not sure what to make of it. But due to that, all of the rabbits that got sick were processed. I'm not going to pass on genetics that are prone to illness. A good immune system is a must for a rabbit. Two kits were kept back, the only two that showed no signs or symptoms, unlike their litter mates. A broken black doe from one litter and a REW buck from the other. Both currently have nice growth on their wool, with a nice sheen to it. Only time will tell if they hold onto their wool as they age or not as Satin Angoras are still prone to become overrun with guard hair as they get new coats growing in. Both of them have decent bodies as well. Nothing spectacular, but nothing problematic either (One doe I'm having to cull has a phenomenal type and choosing to processing her was a difficult decision, but one that has to be made). This will also help me make determinations of where my current stock is at and what changes I'll need to make going forward.
I kept one of the meat mutt bunnies. She grew very quickly and is now almost as big as her mom and only 7 months. And she's sweet. So she'll stay on as another meat mama. I'm thinking of calling her either Pollen or Nectar, since her mom is Honey.

Spring (okay, technically Summer now)

Why do I always feel like writing this time of year? Maybe because it's so hot and the mosquitos are so pesky that I have to mostly stay in doors or risk being eaten alive? That's probably it.

Well, life has gone through some pretty amazing changes since last year. I still struggle with my depression but I seem to be in a better place mentally right now, so that's good. My DH got an amazing job working for Habitat for Humanity and is totally killing it. I was able to quite my job a few weeks ago which I feel has reduced my stress levels a lot. I still feel very busy, but not frantic - it no longer feels as if the whole world is resting on my shoulders and I have to do it all. Now I just have to do some little thing everyday, follow my bullet journal, and everything will be okay. Even if I don't get everything done I have listed, it's okay. I feel a lot calmer these days.

Don't get me wrong. My house is still chaos! I'm in the middle of redoing a dresser to make an entry table/shelf, building crate shelves in my kitchen for more storage, reorganizing the attic and my yarn and wool storage, and trying to figure out how to best rearrange the living room and front room. While trying to keep an A-average in school and keep the house at least clean.

Also, I have chickens now.
I'd say "Hurray for Texas" except that I got the chickens before the new law passed, although now that I know it is for six chickens per person, I may be getting more chickens to add to my small flock of four. But that probably won't happen for a little while. Four is plenty for the current coop.

Speaking of expanding animals: I took a good long hard look at my English Angoras last year, and as the boys grew I noticed something wrong with their hind legs. All of them have what are called "pinched hips" which means that their back feet splay out. And that's not good. Also, as they grew out, their coats seemed to change and become more difficult to handle, with a more cottony texture than is desirable or usable. So UniKitty will be moving on with the rest of the boys. Chang will be used as the meat-mutt sire and a new EA buck will be brought in to be a herd-sire. He comes from a line of easy-care coats and his breeder is hoping that he 1) possess it himself and 2) passes it on. He'll be bred to both Duo and my new EA doe from last fall, Eowyn. His name is Legolas.  I also decided to get into Satin Angoras last fall, and oh my! Their coats as compared to EA's are a lot easier to care for. Still a lot of work, but not as much as the EA's. I have three litters growing right now - two SA litters and a meat-mutt litter. Honey turned out to be an excellent mother, and would have 8 babies if I hadn't made a mistake and thought she wasn't bred. She lost six having them on the wire. Her two remaining babies are doing so well though and will be 8 weeks next week. I plan to grow them out to 16 weeks before their processed. One of my SA kits will join them, as he has fur and not wool and that is an undesirable trait in a wool breed! Otherwise, I have a short list of four SA kits that I'd like to hold onto, but I'm trying to get that down to two or three. Two does from one litter and two bucks from the other. One doe is a definite keeper and at this point looks to be an improvement on her parents as she has the right dimensions currently, very awesome crimp to her wool, and is a good candidate for growing out. The other doe looks very similar to her mother, a bit longer in the shoulders than I'd like, but solid hips and decent wool. So I'm not sure about her... the two bucks from the other litter that I'm watching are just solid bodies at this point, with blocky heads, so their probably keepers. It's hard doing evaluations at this stage and it's a constant process. And they are all so adorable!

The Depression Monster

It really is like a monster.
Creeps out of secret places in your head.

I've been having a difficult time with it lately. And I'm having issues getting it under control. I know that stress is the main culprit, driving it into the forefront. But I also haven't been taking very good care of myself lately. I'm so worried about finances that I'm stressing about every penny. I know that I shouldn't be so worried all the time. It keeps me from sleeping well, it keeps me from enjoying life. When I'm not stressing about money, I'm feeling like a failure because the house is a mess. I yell at the dog, the cats, and cry to my husband most days. I miss having time to read, to color, to paint, to do yoga, to just relax. But I feel like I'm being pulled in a hundred different directions because I can't seem to focus on one thing. If I accomplish something, I feel like it doesn't matter because I still have 5,000 things left to do.

I hate feeling like this. I just want to relax.
But the monster isn't letting me.
When I think I've got him down, he creeps back in again.

#welcometodepression
#depressionchronicles

My amazing husband

So I didn't take the day off on that Friday. I pushed myself passed my limit and crashed for about a week. I'm still recovering. It's hard for my husband to watch me cry for any reason, and it's so frustrating for both of us when I cry for no/every reason.
He was very gentle with me.
He always is.
I'm trying to let go more and be more forgiving of myself.
Of him, I forgive everything.
Seriously, I don't even remember some of what others might consider big things.
He asked for my forgiveness about something once, and I just told him it was already forgotten and smiled.
He cried then.

Anyways, DH came to my rescue today with our washer/dryer unit and laundry cubby. It's a stackable and its been tilted since it was installed (came with the rent house, but we were already moved in when it came). The dryer door is positioned in such a way that while I'm bending over removing clothes from the washer the door starts swinging shut. I've hit my head on it too many times to count. So today he fixed it. Not totally fixed as it still isn't level. But the door no longer swings shut! I should no longer be hitting my head on that door every other week! He also hung a shelf in there so I can put some miscellaneous laundry stuff on that instead of on top of the dryer where I can barely reach it!

I have an amazing husband :)

Recognizing exhaustion

I feel like saying hello to my old friend exhaustion.

"Hello"

Now that I've done that (she said hello back, by the way. Okay, so she didn't really say hello, it was more of a shrugging nod of acknowledgement but whatever), I think I'm just feeling a bit stressed. Finances, work situations, and school are all getting to me, so my mind desperately wants to escape all of the stressors, which it does by telling me I'm exhausted.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a part of depression.

Depression some times manifests itself with an intense need to sleep for extremely long periods of time. This can go on for weeks, months, years even before being diagnosed as depression.

Not to say that I'm not legitimately tired. I am. And one of the things I've really recognized about myself is that I have to allow myself a day or two of what I like to call "me days" where I allow myself to be wherever I am at mentally, to do nothing productive or whatever, to just do what I want when I want to without being hard on myself. Without any negative repercussions from myself. I allow myself the space to close the door to any negative self-talk I might engage in (i.e. There are dishes, sweeping, laundry, etc to do, and you should be doing that not just sitting there binge-watching Castle and eating chips and salsa: stuff like that).

So today's self-care looks like recognizing that I need a me day tomorrow. And I'm going to take it :)

#selfcarechronicle
#depressionawareness

Post show and self-care catch-up

Last week was very stressful. My DH and I spent a good chunk of the week building a new carrying cage and a new grooming table for the rabbits for the show. As well as work, school-work for me, website building for him, and him putting in job applications and doing interviews for prospective jobs. I decided where I am going to plant my garden, as the container garden I have going isn't working out too well. Our yard is a lovely environment for all sorts of bugs, and the caterpillars have been wrecking my beautiful basil plant. And I think Perish (I named our resident Opossum) has been eating my ripening tomatoes :( So when I do plant the garden, I'm going to have to fence it, and I may have found a use for all of the eggshells we go through.

The rabbits did pretty well at the show. It turned out I was the only one showing angoras that day, but that meant I got to talk to one of the judges about some specifics with my tiny herd, and I got to feel good about my pick of the litter as the judge thought he was the best as well, though he recommended  growing them out more as they are only 3 months old and still have some developing to do, and to see how their coats turn out. UniKitty is a definite improvement on his parents, and I will be keeping him. But Badger and Heero will likely need to find new homes. Duo I'll probably breed back to UniKitty and see if I can get better shoulders from them. Chang will become a sire to my meat mutts, as I picked up a Satin doe at the show for that purpose. We still have to decide on a name for her. Current options: Honey, Barley, or Silo. She's a beautiful, big booty doe who I hope will be an excellent mother.

So last weeks self-care looked like working with my hands, getting blisters, and playing in the dirt. It also looked like spending an hour on the phone philosophizing with my father about politics, depression, and self-talk. I got to discuss things that I learned while in therapy a year ago and Dad talked about Philippians 4 and the parallels. It was good.

Today's self-care looked like tidying up the kitchen from the trip this weekend.

More self-care and English Angoras

Today's self-care looked like planning a rabbit grooming table and planning for the show next weekend!

I have English Angora rabbits. They are big balls of fluff and a whole lot of maintenance. So today I pulled out my three junior bucks and gave them all a thorough brushing. The boys aren't fond of holding still so its always a test of my patience with them and them with me. We all did pretty good today. Especially since they had to endure the discomfort of getting tattooed today as well. Tattooing is a way to identify rabbits from one another and it is required at an ARBA sanctioned show, which this weekends show is. I'll get to meet up with other Angora breeders for the first time, and I'm really hoping to gain a lot of knowledge and wisdom from them and their experiences. I'm getting nervous about how my rabbits will do and I'm just hoping the judges will have some good comments about them. I don't expect to win anything with my current stock, as my senior doe Duo is 3 years old (past normal show career), and the boys are only 3 months old and have a lot of growing and maturing to do. Their coats are currently in transition, so they are kind of an ugly cute right now. But grooming takes about 5 minutes everyday, mostly to get them used to it :) All of them currently hate the blower, but they get that for about 5 minutes everyday as well. Thankfully they are starting to get used to that as well!

I think I'm going to go do some coloring now though. More self-care.
Feeling a bit more calm today.

#selfcare
#depression
#carechronicle

5Ks, Depression, and Self-care

So I did my first 5k today. I didn't run very much of it, but I was going more for keeping a steady pace for my mile splits than I was going for speed. With that I did pretty well. My goal was to finish in 46 minutes - did it in 45! Average of 15minutes per split, which was pretty excited for a tortoise like me :) My fastest ever mile time was 12:50 and I was in much better shape then than I am now.

My body is capable of amazing things.

I'm going to try something new. As someone who has depression, I too often neglect myself and my self-care. I need to start taking charge of my mental health, so I am going to start keeping track here of what I've done for myself today as a part of my self-care routines. What is self-care you ask? Well, here's an idea: 

http://anniewrightpsychotherapy.com/2016/03/101-suggestions-for-taking-care-of-yourself-when-it-all-feels-like-too-much/

and:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-practice/201302/17-expert-tips-taking-better-care-yourself

And for anyone wanting more information about depression:

http://blurtitout.org/resource/what-is-depression-2/

So today's self-care looked like writing in my blog about depression and self-care. 

#selfcare 

#depression

#carechronicle

Random Poetry

Not only has 2013 been a bit of a revival of life dreams and goals for me:

going back to school,

a constant evolution of figuring out my life,

being a happier, healthier, more fit me,

trying to be a more openly caring individual,

And writing. I’ve been writing more. Particularly over the last month. Plus I discovered a stash of old poetry, character histories and prophecies surrounding the novel I’m working on! *Jumps for joy* I’ve been working on typing everything out onto my PC and have gotten through quite a chunk of them.

So I thought I’d share a couple of poems with the world. Some are from a number of years ago, others from this last month. Enjoy!

3-22-02

Where the Wild Things Grow

Where the wild things grow

Nothing matters of the outside

Everything has meaning

And no one has anything to hide

We are free from persecution

And the things from which we flee

Nothing here can harm you

Not even a tiny honey bee

Everything is calm here

And this you’ll come to know

The flowers smell so sweet here

Where the wild things grow

Tears are not to be ashamed of

For they are of our old pains

The few that happen to care

Are left standing there are stained

But we who keep on going

Even after being jaded

Are stronger and more observant

Now wary before being weighted

The jaded keep on going

And this you’ll come to know

Your tears taste so sweet here

Where the wild things grow

3/25/13

Naked Soul

The masks we constantly wear

Serve as a barrier between us

We are separate and incomplete

Vapor wisps and weak

Alone in a vast and crowded tundra

Of writhing chaotic masses

We walk this way

From our first jaded experience

Hiding behind jester paint

Miserable and hollowed out.

Void, empty, drained.

Until a moment comes along

Where we see a naked soul

Bare and standing out

Beautiful in its making

And a realization occurs

Scarred, bent, mangled.

But a glorious and striking truth

Stained glass shatters

And paused fragments

Making that one second

Into a precious eternity

Then falling back together

We are beautiful with our scars

And our twisted metal souls

Not one of us is flawless

No one escapes life’s scathing pain

And it is only ourselves who tell us

That most wretched lie ever:

            That we are ugly.

When the inescapable truth is

            That we are glorious, precious gems.

3/16/13

Stolen voice

You stole my voice from me;

From my breath,

From my soul.

It was my catharsis,

It made me whole;

Whittling my words down

To nothing.

Snatching away that which completed me,

And fulfilled me.

It was my life;

My future,

My dream.

But you stole my voice from me.

And for what?

You didn’t understand;

You thought it a silly thing.

But you couldn’t comprehend

That it is everything;

My voice,

My words.

These are my thoughts most profound,

This is how my soul gives sound;

A music,

A melody,

A song.

And you stole my voice from me.

But I found my words again.

You cannot keep them from me.

A healing voice,

Words expressed;

And I found what you had tried to possess,

And shatter;

To destroy utterly,

Irrevocably.

No one can steal my voice from me.

It will never happen again.

These are MY words.

This is MY voice.

There is no place it can be taken

That I cannot find.

I’ll not allow it!

Never again

Will anyone steal my voice from me.

A day in the life of

It's been awhile - oh well. Like that's anything new.
Update: going to be going to school this fall - but not pre-vet. I'm finally going to get an English degree. . .
Yep - a degree. In English! *Insert Happy Dance*

And just for fun . . . a friend of mine had requested a breakdown of "this beautiful routine"of mine.
So here it is.
A day in the life of.

The Morning Routine:
Wake up - hit snooze.
Hit snooze again.
And again.
And again.
And maybe one more time.
Think to myself -Oh Crap!- and then get up.
Take a hit of coffee
Shower (if I didn't feel like taking one before bed as I have no real preference for when exactly I shower during the day)
Let the dogs out
Drink more coffee
Feed the dogs
Drink more coffee
Feed myself
Drink more coffee
Gather lunch and/or snacks for while at work and on the road and pack into ice chest.
Crate the dogs
Gather stuff and head out the door, telling all of the creatures in my house that I will be back later and to be good while I'm gone
Pack stuff into car
Drive an hour to work
- and drink coffee!

The Work Routine:
Arrive - grudgingly
Work - diligently
Leave - gladly!
(Okay, it doesn't often happen that way.)
Arrive
Take care of patients - feed, clean, medicate, walk, etc
Set up Surgery Theater
Clinic opens - intake patients
Deal with irritating owners
Deal with wonderful owners
Deal with nonchalant owners
-And everyone in between
Handle sweet kitties and angry kitties
Handle well-behaved dogs and not so-well behaved dogs
And now it is only 9am!
Start surgeries
Surgeries ongoing . . .
If I am horribly unlucky someone will have scheduled a dentistry and the main dental technician won't be there. And while there is immense satisfaction in doing dentals, it aggravates my shoulder/neck - so it's a little painful.
Finish surgeries (hopefully) and go to lunch (again, hopefully).
Come back from lunch
Take care of anything that didn't get finished by the lunch technician during lunch
Deal with irritating owners
Deal with wonderful owners
Deal with nonchalant owners
-And everyone in between!
Handle sweet kitties and angry kitties
Handle well-behaved dogs and not so well-behaved dogs
And some days, at sometime, handle grieving owners and see pets off to the rainbow bridge.
And some days, at sometime, handle the joys of greeting new pet faces into this world.
Take care of patients - feed, clean, medicate, walk, etc.
Clinic closes
Hour drive home

The Night Routine:
Reverse The Morning Routine
Leave out the coffee and the snooze button
Add in feed cats and feed rabbits and feed fish
And dishes
And possibly laundry
Or vacuuming . . .
Dusting
Or just watching a movie/catching up on my TV shows
BED!

And there you have it :)

Head Colds and Cats on the Countertops

There is nothing more annoying in the universe than when you have a head cold and are lying somewhat comfortably on the couch and you hear a crash from the kitchen because the cats are on the countertops. Scavenging your leftovers.

The little brats.

Then of course, the dog jumps up to go investigate and you have to try to holler at him to stop with your incredibly sore throat because who knows what the two brat children knocked over and it could be glass (though you didn’t hear anything shatter – not that that means anything because your head is so stuffed up that hearing anything other than your own thoughts is slightly difficult. And your thoughts aren’t that coherent anyways).

So you stumble to your feet with a headache as soon as you’re vertical, trying to stop the dog from going to the kitchen while attempting to yell at the cats and not fall flat on your face.

So you get to the kitchen after convincing the dog to back off to find that the fuzz-butts have simply found something with some sort of meaty-like residue on it and have displaced it’s somewhat former precarious position stacked haphazardly on the crowded counter.

Now comes the hard part: to pick it up or to not pick it up. Because bending over is even worse than trying to stand up from the couch.

But since you’re in the kitchen anyways – you might as well grab a cup of herbal tea. And some Tylenol. And allergy medication. And every other homeopathic remedy known to man. And add some water to the pot you have boiling on the stove.

And leave the stupid dish on the floor – the cats will clean it up. And if they don’t – the dog will get to it later!

P.S. I did pick up the dish a couple hours later, after the Tylenol kicked in.

And sometimes I write poetry . . .

CATHARSIS
Why?
I told myself no;
I grounded my heart
Or so I thought.
Am I meant to be alone?
I pray not.
Where is the catharsis?
Where is the joy I felt prior?
I feel
Let down.
Not enough hours in the day
To express my sorrow.
My joy has left me;
Now I am bereft,
Grieving for that which I never had.
Must be strong.
Must be strong.
Air fills my lungs,
I am breathing again;
But the pain lingers,
It has not yet faded away-
Let me down gently.

-written Fall 2010

Starting Over

I renamed by blog. . .

:)

Mostly I just needed to start over – so forward ho!

Background – My name is Ashley, I’m a Veterinary Technician, and I live in West Texas – also called by a friend of mine ‘Dirt Hell’. So named due to the frequent dust storms that blow through. If you have never seen or been a part of a dust storm – consider yourself lucky. Dust and dirt and grit blowing in a wall of wind that gets in your cloths, shoes, eyes, house, and occasionally your bed is an experience that you can totally live without. I have two cats – Alice, 8.5yrs old; Wicket, 7.5yrs old – a dog, Motley, 6 – and a rabbit, Bunny, around 7-8yrs old. I foster animals. I am single so my fur children are a substitute. I love Yoga, Herbalife, and alternative health modalities. My birth control medicine keeps me from being a crazy psychotic mass of raging hormones and assists in maintaining a more level emotional scale – anything is better than the former rollercoaster ride I was on without the meds. I make food for my pets – seriously. A book and a lightweight jacket are my constant companions. I love to sing. I hope to teach myself the guitar this year and to finish a novel I have been working on within the next five years, I love to write and read. I plan to return to school in the spring of 2013 to get my pre-veterinary medicine courses out of the way so I can go to vet school. Lots to do!

A Little Neglected . . .

So I feel as if I have been neglecting my poor blog . . .
Probably because I have been.
Life has been so freakishly busy and hectic and utterly chaotic that I feel as though everything has exploded in my face! And it’s only going to get worse.
I should really be making cat food right now . . . but I’m writing this. Even my spelling is suffering at the hands of my eye-twitch induced exhaustion! But we writers do as we must – carrying on the spark of literary genius!
And back to reality.
Finances have been killing me and I quite literally had a panic attack over it last week – thankfully talking to my mom and problem solving helped me feel better combined with the oh-so-lovely fact that my income tax return check came in and presto! Dire financial straights crisis averted!
I also haven’t spent near enough time packing, but on the same hand I’m no where near ready to move yet (a month and a half away) that I feel that packing would be premature. At least, any more than I already have (one bookshelf down – that’s about 5 boxes? – 3 more to go!).
Added to the mix (although this I have thoroughly enjoyed even if it is time consuming and about to be somewhat heartbreaking) is the raising of two bottle babies (kittens). Although they are now seven weeks old and ready for their forever homes (heartbreaking part) so that part of everything is about to change.
And now getting the new backyard ready for Motley – the yard full of foxtails and black locust trees. It’s going to be an adventure.
Scratch that – It’s going to be WAR!

And update on my stomach issue and weight loss:
I – and I would really like to stress that word “I” here – figured out what was causing my stomach issues. I even mentioned it to the doctor the first time I went in, just because I did see it as a remote possibility at the time. My birth control meds, or, as I like to call them: My happy drugs. I have switched birth controls and am no longer having those stomach issues. YAY me! BOO doctors!
I have lost 22 pounds so far, and I am back into my high school jeans – Super YAY me!

Good night all!

Mystery Meat . . . and Various other assorted refrigerator nightmares

There is nothing more horrifying and completely tragic than food that grows its own friends.

A week or so ago I found myself with both the time and ambition to clean my kitchen – including cleaning out my refrigerator of old/spoiled food. Unfortunately, time got away from me and while I got the old food out of the fridge, it sat on the counter until I was ready to deal with it.

I would like to state here that yes, I know that food on the counter should be dealt with immediately. But this anecdote is just a reaffirmation of that common sense knowledge.

Unfortunately, last night was the night that I was ready to deal with it. Of course, knowing that the food was bad, meant that the trash had to also be dealt with immediately.

So I emptied out the containers of bad food, and low and behold! One of them contained now rancid meat. Let me tell you, if you didn’t know or cannot imagine, rancid meat is the most awful smell that will ever encounter your nasal passages. Thankfully it was in a stainless steel bowl, so the container wasn’t a loss, unlike one of the other containers I had. The majority of the scented candles in my possession made their way to the kitchen to be lit and permeate the air following the saturation of my apartment by the smell of the gross meat (ok – so it wasn’t that bad, it didn’t get throughout my apartment). Trash was taken out while the dishes soaked in hot water. Then the sink was filled with detergent and hot water, and the dishes left to soak overnight. The oh-so-lucky container that held the meat was also covered with regular dish soap to help breakdown the stuck on portions of horridness that would not come off with the regular scrub brush.

This morning, all dishes left to soak came through the ordeal unscathed.

On a more positive note: I am currently bottle raising some kittens (and getting paid to do it!) and I took some pictures of them this morning. The first photo is of "Rapha" and the second is of "Rani"

Allergies Anyone?

This past week has not been the greatest of weeks, as far as great weeks go.

My boss’ mother passed away – she was 102 years old. She had just, in fact, turned 102 last week and then the following day became ill. She passed on Thursday morning.

My brother-in-law’s grandmother also passed away yesterday early afternoon. She had been battling illnesses and deteriorating health for awhile, but just became severely ill a couple weeks ago.

And just this week I received the news that an old friend (one of my sister’s bridesmaids at her wedding) has stage four brain cancer and may only have days or weeks to live – she has three kids: ages 6,4, and 18months. And a husband who adores her. She is 28.

Our own mortality hits us in very different ways.

And life moves on.

Today I went to an Herbalife STS (I just found out what that means! Its Herbalife speak for Success Training Seminar!), and I have to say I am very excited. Maybe that needed an exclamation! Or two!! Maybe even three!!! Anyways, I am going to get really plugged into the business! That means I will be talking to all of you about it as well! Even more than I have been!

Before Herbalife I was tired all of the time, had no energy, weight-wise was not where I wanted to be, and had an undiagnosed GI issue that left me horribly nauseous two out of every four weeks and the doctors were convinced that taking my gallbladder would somehow make all of it go away (yeah right!). Now I have energy and don’t feel the need for a nap at lunch nor do I want to go back to using my caffeine crutch; I’m losing weight healthily, and since I started on this product about 2 ½ weeks ago I have only had one day of not feeling well!

Also, I had bad allergies that manifested themselves not only in my sinuses but on my skin! I broke out into these horrible rashes that itched like nobody’s business and I have some scars to prove it! Now I am off of my allergy medicine, and guess what? No more rashes! My sister was very impressed by this as she has seen some of my skin rashes and knows how horribly frustrating they were.

I am also going to be implementing on here one of the things that Brook Kirwin talked about today:

3 things I am grateful for: I am grateful for Dustin, who simply walked into my work one day and asked if I liked shakes. I am grateful for the product, which seems to be currently changing my life. And I am grateful for my family – the whole lot who mean so much to me and whom I love very much!
3 things I am manifesting: I will be healthy and feel good all of the time, even when I don’t want to! I will reach financial fitness and freedom. And I will finish my novel!
One amazing thing that happened to me today is: that my work schedule for next week was absolutely perfect and what I needed it to be – that never happens!

God Bless!

Busy, busy!

Sorry! I know I said I would be updating so much more often then I have been, but I’ve been super busy.

Lots going on.

I finally made it to the library and checked out some books – research for my novel. Now I just have to find the time to read them. I also recently joined/signed up with the company Herbalife, which is super yum and doing good things for me so far. I’ve lost a total of 5 pounds now, maybe a little more as I haven’t gotten on the scale in a couple of days and I joined a weight loss challenge that ends on the 17th – I’ll let you know how that goes!

Last weekend I had a very busy Saturday. First I went to a plasma center and signed up to donate. Then I went to an Herbalife training meeting, just an overview of the products and what they do. Then I had a wedding to attend (probably the fastest wedding I’d ever been to!), went to the reception, then I went back to the plasma center and actually donated – and I’m going back again tomorrow!

This weekend will be busy too, as I am going to an Herbalife training seminar – I guess its going to be an all day thing as far as I know, and it starts at 9am. For those of you who know me very well, you know that 9am is waaaaaaaayyy to early for me. I prefer to sleep in!

I haven’t been doing very well on exercising in the past week, but prior to that I was doing excellently. And I’m still eating right and drinking plenty of water. Yay!

Money is tight right now (then again when is it not!) and so I’m really having to watch things at the moment. But with me donating plasma and doing some dog sitting next weekend, funds should be coming in a little more easily.

The cats are all doing well – although they seem to be having slightly more frequent arguments. And Hops is doing awesome, but she has chewed off a couple of the buttons on my remotes!

Yawn – time for bed!

Common Sense Award?

It’s always sad when you have to force yourself to blog.

And as I’m writing this, Hops has here jingle bell ball in her mouth and is tossing her head back and forth – making lots of noise and is super cute, so now I’m in a bit better of a mood.

Worked out this evening for about 45 minutes. Yesterday I didn’t work out at all (wasn’t feeling up to it) and my water intake wasn’t up to my goal, but close! Meals were well balanced as they ought to be!

Hmmm, life. Well I took my car into the shop as my brakes “weren’t right” as I like to say. It ended up being more than what I thought the problem was (although they took care of that as well), but the monetary damage wasn’t bad at all (at least, that’s how I feel)!

And I have the first $100 into my Emergency Fund saved! Gooooooooooo ME! I’m hoping to have all of it by the end of May - only because taxes are coming up and I have a plane ticket to buy and a bunny to spay (I haven’t told her yet that I am taking her ovaries – its for her own good!). I keep wondering if maybe Hops wouldn’t benefit from a bunny friend as the cats and her just don’t speak the same language and things seemed to be getting lost in translation (not referring to ‘murder’ here – and that is a Bones reference, lol).

I have also discovered that feeding Holly three times a day seems to work best. I have a bad feeling that she may be trying to go hyperthyroid me but I am going to fight it tooth and nail. And I think I am starting to come to terms that I may have accidently gotten myself another cat in her – but I am still calling her a foster. Its just that she is old and I don’t think anybody is going to come along and baby her the way she deserves. Poor girl had a great life with a good owner who happened to have horrid helpers that pawned off their responsibilities and so dumped her onto the next owners – who were obviously not cat people! But at least they brought her to us – good for them! Common Sense award to them!

I think I should start doing that: handing out Common Sense Awards.

I wonder how often I’ll have the opportunity? In this town . . .

Well, the natives are getting restless so I had better go now before a war ensues . . . Good night all!

Blah!

Day 7 – worked out for a full hour! And I drank a good amount of water and my meals weren’t horrible. Turns out yesterday and today were false alarms which probably means that early tomorrow morning before going into work I’m going to feel like I’ve been hit by a Semi – and there will be no way out as my car is going into the shop first thing in the morning to get more break fluid put into it. Which is something I could probably do myself if I knew where and what kind of break fluid to get – as long as the lines don’t need bled or anything. Super frustrating!

But on a good note – I believe I have officially lost a pound and at least a half an inch around my waist! Woot woot!

Ooops!

I know its been a few days since I’ve reported but work and life have been killing me! So here it is:

Days 3-6

So day 3, I just did some major stretching due to the exercise set I’d done the night before, but otherwise I did well.

Day 4 was a nightmare. I worked a straight 12 hour shift – no lunch break. Three of our staff called in sick that day, we had a completely full surgery schedule that got complicated by a dog that had a bunch of stickers caught in it mouth (due to idiot owners!) and a dystocia dog who had been in labor for about 36 hours per the owners (another pair of idiots). So lunch was filled with finishing up our surgeries from the morning, digging stickers out of a dogs mouth, and performing a c-section/spay. Luckily four of the five puppies survived – the one who didn’t was the one that got stuck in the birth canal. We called in pizza for lunch – I had Mt. Dew for the first time in a very, very long time. When I got home that night I downloaded some soundscapes and walked for about 30 minutes. I had comfort food for dinner that ended up not sitting very well. I did not drink anywhere near my goal amount of water.

Day 5 still not all that great. Drank water with lunch and dinner, but only drank maybe an additional 8-12 ounces throughout the day. I did some very light amount of stretching, but that’s it.

Day 6 I drank water with all three meals, but no extra, and no exercise. It’s just that time, so I was kind of expecting it to not be a great day. But I did eat pretty well today so that’s good!

I will do better this next week!