Living an EXTRAordinary Life

Since Matt and I decided not to run the Chicago Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon, we decided to work on other aspects of our fitness.  Except for my calves, I am pretty mushy.  I do have a strong core from yoga, but I really needed to start incorporating weights.  I have been saying for years that I need to. But between training for the marathon, injuries and yoga … well, I never really got a chance to get into it.  I’d do an interval workout occasionally, but nothing really worth mentioning.  I’d always stop doing it again. This time, though, I am going to take it seriously.

It’s not surprising to many of you that I read a lot of health and fitness blogs and magazines.  After hearing about the results from The Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler, with Cassandra Forsythe, M.S. and workout programs by Alwyn (ALL-in) Cosgrove, I decided to buy this book.   I read it and became excited about the program, even if it is technically a six month program.  That sounds daunting, but then, I train for races for four months, this isn’t really that much longer, right?   The nutrition section makes a lot of sense, but as a vegetarian, I was told to look elsewhere.

The big innovation to this program is that the trainers advocate heavy weights for women.  Usually, women are told to lift light weights with lots of repitition, so that they don’t bulk up. Most women don’t want to be bulky, but I do want visible muscle, so this is the way I should lift.   The six months are divided up into seven stages, with stage six being optional.  Each stage will last between six to eight weeks, based on how many times per week you work out.  Each stage has two workouts you alternate.   Each workout has FIVE exercises.

As an endurance “athlete”, I have trouble wrapping my head around that.  Five exercises, 20-25 minutes per workout.  Cardio not necessary and the pounds will roll off?  Hmmmph … we’ll see.  I mean, I understand, building muscle will increase my metabolism and make me smaller, but does it really feel like a workout?  And I will still be doing cardio, as I am still running, just not … long.

So today, after finally getting the training logs and the exercises organized, I did the first workout.  It took me about 22 minutes.

Here is how it went down:

First exercise …. Squats with barbell, 2 sets of 15.  Well, that was fine … my 12 pound body bar is already obsolete.

Second exercise … Push-ups … um, I can do zero of these on the floor.  I managed to eek out 2 sets of 15 by doing the 45 degree ones at the dining room table.

Third exercise …. Dumbbell bent-over Row …. These were fun.  Need to increase weights next time.

Fourth exercise …. Step Up (on bench) … I have done these for years while doing my FIRM workouts.  It was familiar to me. I grabbed the 8 pounders.  Did the first sets.  But the second sets burned.  And I am a RUNNER … aren’t I supposed to have strong legs.  LOL.  And here the heart rate went up … so I got, what, four minutes of cardio?

Fifth exercise …. Prone Jackknife … these involve an exercise ball.  I hate those things.  Every time I try to use them, I hurt myself. But I drug it up from the basement anyway, cleaned it off and tried this exercise.  Fell off every time.  So, I just skipped this exercise.  Don’t know what body part I missed out on working.

Bonus … just because that didn’t feel complete … I did 2 sets of 15 reps of triceps kickbacks with 5 pound weights.  The first set was easy, the second harder.  Will not be able to move up to 8 pounders the next time.

Did it feel like a workout?  Yeah.  But it still felt like cheating, because it was only 22 minutes and until my heart rate went up, I barely broke a sweat.  And that was probably because it suddenly became humid right as I was getting started.

I’ll report on workout 2, but don’t worry, I won’t be recapping every single one for you. 

Oh see, here I go, neglecting my blog again.  And now, I have two trips to summarize.  Well, luckily for you, that means I’ll have to brief on each.  Ha ha.

Seattle, June 25-30th

As previously stated, we visited Seattle to participate in the Inaugural Rock ‘n Roll Marathon.  But we made a mini-vacation out of it.

Friday:

We got up at o’dark thirty and arrived in Seattle at 11:30 a.m.  This was because Matt wanted to attend the Mariners game playing that afternoon at 1:30.  We had perfect timing between our flight and taxi ride.  We were able to check in to our hotel, as our room was ready.  Yay.  Then we walked across the street to Safeco Field for the game.  The game was fine, the Mariners won.  The field is very nice.  We planned on getting lunch there, and both assumed that, being Seattle, I would have lots of vegetarian options, or at least one beyond the soft pretzel/plain pizza/french fries usual.  But the only thing we could find was chocolate covered fruit on a stick.  I forget what they called it.  I passed.  Later on, I saw a vendor selling them in the stands and they just reminded me of poop on a stick.  Seriously. Throughout the game though, I fought very hard to stay awake.  I fell asleep a few times.  Baseball is just not that action packed and added to my lack of sleep, it was a recipe for disaster.  We were on the aisle seats, so I had to keep getting up, otherwise, I probably would have had a very long nap.

After the game, we walked a bit into town and had a look around to see what was there.  It was not very exciting.  We went into Pioneer Square, which was really pretty.  We noticed a large bookstore that we promised to visit another time.  We checked out a huge toystore as well.  Very cool.   But we were pretty exhausted by this point, it was probably only 6:00.  We stopped at a Starbucks (no, really) and I got an iced Chai tea latte that woke me up enough to get through the evening.  We had dinner at the hotel, where I had the tastiest vegetarian “Philly Cheesesteak” sandwich.  YUM!  I think we fell asleep at 10:00 p.m. and yes, that meant we woke up early, but we managed to stay in bed until around 9:00 the next morning.

Saturday:

We attended the marathon’s health expo and picked up our packets.  The expo was held where the Seahawks play.  We didn’t wear any Steelers clothing though.  This was a nice expo, as all of the Elite/Competitor Group ones are.  I bought an awesome sport belt that can hold my iPhone when I run and and doesn’t bounce as well as picked up a pair of new running shoes for $50 (retail price: $125!) Score!  They are slightly used, but very slightly.  We also bought souvenirs of course.

We dropped off our goody bags at the hotel and decided what the rest of the day would hold.  We couldn’t do too much because we couldn’t get too tired and needed to be back earlyish to rest.  So we decided to go to the Space Needle.   Looked online to see how to get to there on public transportation.  We found what we thought to be the stop.  It wasn’t, and so we went to another stop.  That took about 30 minutes for us to deliberate.  The Space Needle was okay, it seems to be a tradition to go to any lookout tower in every city we visit that has one.  But nobody has that glass floor that the CN Tower in Toronto has.  That is the coolest thing.   The Space Center is nestled in Seattle Center where the science center and the Science Fiction Museum and Music Experience are, as well as a little amusement park.  It’s cute.

After the Space Needle, we walked down a steep hill to eat at the Spaghetti Factory, which is very similar to the Spaghetti Warehouse in Pittsburgh.  Then we attempted to get back to the hotel.  Argued a bit about how to get back, decided to hop in a cab before we killed each other.

Saturday:

Race day.  After the race was over and we rested, showered and ate, we walked to the big bookstore in Pioneer Square.  Honestly, I cannot remember what we had for dinner … I know we ate after the race at the hotel and went out for Quizno’s but it was closed.  So I really don’t remember.   Matt couldn’t move well, so we rested in the room the rest of the evening.

Sunday:

Zoo day.  We thought we had it all planned out.  We’d take the *free* hotel shuttle!  Guess what? It didn’t go that far.  Oy vey.  So they called us a cab.  The cabbie actually missed the turn in to the zoo and drove around and of course charged us for it.

The zoo is beautiful!  It is bigger than Pittsburgh, but not nicer.  They are on the same level.  It is not as big as Toronto or the San Diego ones.  We enjoyed the new Penguin exhibit.  There were also lots of beautiful and unique birds.  We took lots of pictures of animals of course.    And I had many vegetarian choices to choose from for lunch.

When we were tired out, we called my friend Jen, who met us at the zoo with her baby, whom I hadn’t met yet.  She is such a cutie pie.  We went back to Jen’s house and hung out for a bit.  Met her two beautiful cats.  After our visit, her husband drove us back to the hotel.  Thanks Doug!  The search for dinner was …. exhausting.  So we just ordered pizza.

Monday:

Attended the Science Fiction Museum and the Great Music Experience museum.  Took the hotel shuttle, yay! We totally expected to like the music side better. It was cool, but the really fun things we couldn’t play with because it was very crowded.  In their lobby on their huge video screen, they had a tribute to Michael Jackson and had his sequined glove and coat on display.   However, we totally loved the Science Fiction side.  I would swear that I am not a science fiction fan, but apparently, I am.  Even though we were not allowed to take pictures, Matt did photograph some book titles for us to read.  I can’t really explain the place … it was just awesome and if you are ever in Seattle … go.   However, don’t plan on eating lunch there.  The food they have is totally, um, pathetic.  As we were leaving, we sat down for a few minutes break in the lobby.  I used the restroom and as I came out, I noticed an inebriated patron walking around.  I just ignored him, he started harassing a younger guy and an older man came over and rescued the guy and then had security called, who was pleased to escort the drunk man out.  That was kind of interesting. 

Headed over to the Science Center.  It was a typical science center in its exhibits.  We saw the Imax movie Lewis and Clark. The layout was kind of interesting, with the open atrium in the middle.  Seattle must think it is a warm city or something.

Since we were on that side of town and knew it was a sure thing, we ate at the Spaghetti Factory again.  We love carbs, can you tell?  Then took a cab back to the hotel, after running after a hotel shuttle, only to discover it was for a different location. 

Exhaustion set in, so we went back to the hotel and rested and read and watched tv.  The next morning we got up, packed and flew home.

My impression of Seattle is that it is probably a very nice city.  After all, I’ve been hearing for years how wonderful it was.  We acknowledge that we stayed in a bad part of town, bad in the sense that there really was nothing around us that stayed open late.  Public transportation was confusing.  I understand that not being familiar with the geography is part of it, but we have never had that much trouble using public transportation in Portland, Toronto, or San Diego for instance.  But I honestly didn’t see anything compelling me to move there.  I’d probably visit again.  But to me, it was just like Pittsburgh on the West Coast, with more yoga studios and vegetarian and vegetarian friendly restaurants.

As it turns out, this was long after all.  Imagine had I written this when it was fresh in my head.  LOL.  So part II of the two trips will be written tomorrow or the next day.  Look for it!

The above named marathon and half marathon was held on June 27, 2009.  We left for Seattle on Thursday, June 25, 2009 and returned home on Tuesday, June 30th.  Details of the trip will be shared in a different entry.  This one is just about the actual race.

The day started at 4:00 a.m.  I got up swearing to never do another race EVER.   At that time of day, it doesn’t matter what I am doing.  Its just too darn early to be up.  Even with the 11 hours of sleep I got Thursday night, its just hard.

Being veterans of many races, we have the prepping part down to a science.  We were out the door at 4:30 a.m. where it was already starting to get light. Unlike in San Antonio, there were lots of shuttles waiting to load us runners up and take us to the start line in Tukwila.  We were not going to have a repeat of San Antonio and be late for the race.  Later on, however, I did find out that some people were late, but I am unsure if it was lack of shuttles or if it was the participants fault.   The down side of getting to the race area early is the waiting forever and getting cold legs.  We found a place to sit down so that we didn’t have to stand the whole time, or walk, and tire out our legs.

Eventually we lined up in our corrals.  Matt was several ahead of me, so that is where we parted ways.  In my corral, I was talking to women from Portland, who say Seattle sucks.    They also were in the same state of mind I was in … where we just didn’t care what time we finished in.  We were there to have fun.  Or as much fun as you can have in a race.

Since I refused to be a slave to time, I didn’t wear my Garmin.  The only time I wished that I had, was the very beginning, as I missed the timer at the start line, and I really had no idea what time I started.  Because in the end, when you cross the finish line, you do want to know your actual time.   Found out later it was about 45 minutes until I crossed.

As we were walking towards the start, another woman started talking to me.  She is also a run/walker and was planning on doing the full marathon.  She planned to finish in 5:30, which is the pace I was going.  We started running together and a woman from NOLA who is currently living in Miami Beach decided to run with us.  We joked that she would be passing us quickly.  NOLA was telling me the differences in HOT between New Orleans and Miami Beach.   Um, okay ….

Unfortunately, I left the marathoner behind and it was NOLA and me for awhile.  We were on the same pace and she kept me running.  I blew her away though when she stopped for a potty break early on.  She could have possibly passed me later, but I don’t think she did.

There were hills at this point, not nothing too bad.  There were enough downhills and flat areas to even it out.  Mile 5 was a nice long rolling uphill, which wasn’t so bad, as I didn’t notice that it was steep until about mile 8 when someone commented on the hill at mile 5.  I guess there are advantages to living and running in Pittsburgh.

The Seward Park area was totally beautiful, tree lined and went along the water.  Seward Park encompassed miles 4-8.   Some spectators called to our attention a bald eagle in a tree.  Spectacular to see one not in captivity.  I certainly never had!  Some people stopped to take pictures.  I was tempted, but afraid to lose my stride.

Mile 9 was the steepest hill … nobody around me even attempted to run. After all, I was with the slow people. This hill was almost straight up and down, I kid you not.  Fortunately, it wasn’t long.   This was first split of marathon and half marathon.   Apparently there were two more.  Out and backs are rough.  I am glad that I didn’t do the full after hearing this.  I can handle people in front of me, but there is something about watching people on the other side that I find discouraging.  And later on, I saw the really big hill that the full marathoners had to endure.  I had even more respect for all of them after that.  And my respect was super high already!

Then we entered the transit tunnel …  it was interesting.  I thought it would be short and I was walking. Decided to walk the tunnel and then run, but the tunnel kept going and going … was it the Energizer tunnel?  There was even a water stop, a band, and porta potties!   I honestly was waiting for something to happen … like in movies, all the scary things happen in tunnels.  All that happened though was that I wanted to be done running.

At mile 10, I was at the 2:00:00 mark, which was a happy happy place for me.  I was very satisfied with this.  This is a 12:00 mile pace, and that means that I was running more than walking.  However, the road beyond the tunnel got very very narrow and here is where I was slowed down.  Even though I was with the 5 mph runners, I actually run a little faster and lose time on my walks and so I had a wall of slower people that I couldn’t get past.  The next mile was much slower and I also started to get tired here.

Around mile 12, where the full and half marathoners are following the same path, someone, a spectator, saw my marathon number, and said “You are halfway there” and I just smiled.  It was mile 14.5 for the full marathoners.  I didn’t bother to correct him and tell him I was almost done.  I already felt like an imposter, running with my “yellow” full marathon number.

Finish line … winded around and was annoying.  I hate when I know the finish is coming and I can’t see it!  I have to say that from mile 12 on, it was all downhills and flat though.  Again, unlike San Antonio that finished on the ONLY uphill of the whole race.  Maybe enough people complained about that, so they made sure to correct  it in Seattle.

So I turned the corner into the parking lot next to my hotel and then turned again and once more for good measure and crossed the finish line in a clock time of:  3:25:31.  Which in real time was 2:42:54.  Not even close to a PR and slower than I’ve done the last several halfs.  But its okay, I was fine with that.

Immediately after the race, I got my medal and some water and some salty snack.  The secure area was HUGE!  The mylar blankets are usually given out early in the area, but it was almost at the exit.  I needed it this time, as I was chilled and nauseated.  So I sat down.  I couldn’t open my bottle because my fingers were still swollen and the nice guy sitting nearby opened it for me.  We talked awhile.  Then I got up to go look for Matt.  I talked to a woman in her 60s, who just started running about 5 years ago.  She got her husband and her brother to do it too.  Another man who hadn’t run a marathon since college (and he was probably over 40) until this one and qualified for Boston.  Incredible.  So many nice people hanging out in the secure area waiting for their partners to finish.  I was bit annoyed that the UPS trucks were OUTSIDE the area, and I couldn’t get my flip flops, but you know, I survived.

It was a totally new experience for me, not caring about my time.  Just running and talking to people and looking at the scenery.  I liked it, but you know that I will get my competitive drive going again and care about time again.  But until then, I’ll just enjoy the ride.

The hardest part about the staggered start is not knowing when someone actually started.  I had no idea how long it would be before Matt would be done.  I checked the live results page and guessed, but was not a good guesser. Eventually a I got a text from him that said “Just passed 21; please procure gun/ammo and prepare to do the humane thing”.  Ha ha.  Then 40 minutes later “Passed 24.  What’s the status on that gun”.

Well, obviously if someone is texting, you know that things are not going well.  But my wonderful husband did finish in 5:00. That is amazing … two marathons in 8 weeks for him.

Other stats, mostly for the other runners:

Overall place:  11,009/15,650

Out of females: 7,485/11,421 (the race was 70% female)

Division (females, 35-39):  1516/2135 (I keep waiting for that to get better)

Splits:

5K 36:41

10K 1:14:06

9 mile: 1:49:32

12:26 overall pace (told you I slowed down)

In my last post, I mentioned briefly a carpenter who came to the house to estimate some work that we had here for him.  That day, he ignored his promise to be there first thing in the morning.  Then he promised us an estimate later that day (Thursday) or the next morning.   Fast forward to the next Wednesday, and still no estimate.  So I called him and asked for it.  He called me back promptly and gave me the price which was about half what I expected, so I was anxious to give him the job.  I don’t really know why, as he already had two strikes against him.  During that call, he said that he would be by first thing in the morning with a work order for us to sign so that we can get on the schedule and said that he could start at the next of next (this) week.

If you are intuitive, you know where this is going.  He was NOT there first thing in the morning on Thursday.  Again, I gave up a run to wait for him.  Finally, I had to leave and I did.  He did not come by the next day either.  I called him on Monday.  No return call.  I called on Wednesday and told him that if we didn’t hear from him by the end of the day, I was looking for someone else.

Matt and I seriously wondered if he died.  Honestly.  I mean … to not even call us back!  Rude!  And rude is not tolerated.

And the carpenter is not the only one who ignored me this week.  I have been trying to reach my doctor to get an appointment.  The phone never gets picked up.  Again, unprofessional.  I’m looking for a new doctor.

So while I am dealing with trying to get these supposedly simple things, I am also trying to train for a half marathon, plan a few trips.  I was feeling stressed out. And then, last week, I went to the basement to put some stuff away and when I went to put the items on the table to keep them off the floor and therefore from getting wet, I noticed that the table and all the things on it were soaking wet!  PUDDLES!

Arrgh.  Thought it was the dishwasher.  Since I was in the midst of 20,000 other things, I waited to investigate further until Matt came home, who very easily diagnosed the pipe under the sink leading to the dishwasher as the culprit and turned the knob off.   A few winters ago, our pipes burst, and there was damage and repairs to the plumbing to the dishwasher made, so we assumed it was that.  Then we did some clean up work.   And went for a walk.

Fortunately, the plumber did not ignore us and came out within 3 hours of our call.  It was not the dishwasher, but a pipe under the sink.  Easy fix.  The ironic thing is that I was hand washing dishes, thinking I was doing a good thing, when actually, I was making the problem worse.  The bottom of the cabinet under the sink sustained damage and needs some kind of repair.  Too bad the carpenter ignored me, or I’d have another job for him!

Oh, I made reference to a trip being stressful.  That is because we sent an e-mail to an owner of a house in Kauai that we wanted to rent.  And he totally ignored us!  Matt found us a wonderful condo.  I e-mailed the owners, and they did NOT ignore us.  And now we have a beautiful place to stay, closer to the beach than the house was, still with views of turtles for a FRACTION of the price.  I guess in this case … being ignored worked out.

I know this isn’t an exciting blog entry.  But it does explain why I have been ignoring it.  If I wrote more often, I know I could say this much more interestingly.  And for this week, at least, I am ignoring house repairs until we get back from our trip.

Last Thursday, May 28th, I went out for a run.  It was about 74 degrees outside, with an equally high humidity.  But, you know, I had to run.  That marathon is getting closer, I had no choice.   Naturally, this being Pittsburgh, we really haven’t had these temperatures stick around long enough to be acclimated to it yet, so that made it difficult.  I was doing reasonably well, though, making decent time, feeling pretty good and relatively pain free.  It was on the way back, about 4.5 miles into the 6.2 mile run that I suddenly had pain.  The pain was in my right leg … and I’ve been having trouble with the left one.  It started at the very top of the inside thigh, and then moved to the hamstring/glute area.  I could run a small amount, then needed to walk.  I pretty much walked only at the very end.  I thought this was odd, but wasn’t too worried at the time.

The next morning I got up and went to yoga.   Imagine my surprise when I couldn’t even do a forward bend without pain.  Not even downward dog.  This being vinyasa yoga with all its forward bends and down dogs meant that I was in real trouble here.  I could actually bend with a lot less pain if I kept my knee bent.  I muddled through the class.  The only pose I ended up sitting out, well, I actually stood, was “twisted triangle” which for some reason was the worst.  I nearly yelped when I tried it.  I left the class feeling better though and could straighten the leg in down dog by the end of class.

Saturday, I was signed up to do a level 2 yoga workshop.  My glute/hamstring whatever, was still bothering me, but the pain was about 50% of what it was on Friday.  So I went.  I learned so many cool things.  I still couldn’t do twisted triangle, but forward bends were permitted.  I learned a new way to take flight in crow, and I am so close to being able to stay in that pose, but still can’t, its pretty frustrating!

Sunday was our scheduled long run.  Um, yeah.  I gave up at around mile 3.5 (and I was crazily thinking I would be going 15 miles) and walked the rest of the way. I did manage to walk 10 miles, but it got really slow at the end.    Hills are not my friends.

At this point, it is looking like the full marathon is out of the question, and that I am going to have to do the half.  The only good news there is that I am way ahead in training for that.  This really makes me sad, remembering how great it felt to complete the full 26.2 miles.  Maybe if I can learn to not be so hard on myself, I might allow myself to walk the second half of the marathon … I’ll have 7 hours to complete it.  We’ll see.  It will be a game day decision.

So this week, I took the week off from running to allow my leg to heal.  It’s been tough.  It’s funny how I fight with myself to get out there and run normally, but then when I “can’t” there is nothing I would rather do.   I just got back a few minutes ago from picking up my CSA farm box (all greens, I guess I’ll be eating lots of salads) and saw many people running.  It made me happy to see them, as running does make me happy but it made me want to come home and put on my running shoes.  But I know I can’t do it until Sunday … that is the smart thing to do.    A walk on Tuesday (in flip flops because my blisters would crack open in shoes) made it very clear that I am not quite ready to run.

I took off my coward hat and tried the South Side yoga studio this week and I loved it.  The noontime class is great as I don’t need to get up early, or rush in the morning and can even go if I run early.  I just don’t like the rest of the day starting at 2:00, by the time I get home, so I guess I’ll have to work on being productive before the class.  Let’s not kid ourselves, its not like I usually get started on things earlier than that most days! Four classes in six days whetted my appetite for more yoga.  So that is good I got the yoga bug back.

Today … I finally finished the seasonal wardrobe conversion.  I had time … waiting for a handyman to come by to give us estimates on some work we need done.  We thought he was coming by at 9:30 but it was after 4:00 before he got here.  Funny how much more time I have when I don’t have to workout.  It was frustrating to have no idea when he would be here and Matt gave up his run because of it.  The handyman didn’t act like I was crazy for having so many cats, he just asked if they all got along, just as Blossom decided to terrorize Fuzzy.

Cole did not sleep one minute all day.  I don’t think Fuzzy, Blossom, or Willie did either.  They were too interested in me.  Cole is very mischievous in general, and more so today.  He was getting on my nerves.  He should be glad that he is so sweet at other times!

And, finally, an update on Hallie.  She is doing fine.  No weird leg pop-outs and she is eating very well and neatly, at that.   If you stuck it out, thank you for reading this very post.

Some of you know Hallie.  If you have read any of the three previous posts, you’ve at least heard of her.

The craziness started last week during one of my nightly visits.  She was sitting on my lap and her nail got stuck in the blanket.  When she jumped down, her leg was askew.  It was sticking out and hanging.  It was very disconcerting and freaky.  I didn’t know what to do, but was getting up to get the carrier to take her to the emergency room.  But the leg went back to normal.  Whew.  I didn’t think much more of it.

A few days later, when I trimmed her nails, the leg popped out again.  I was able to put it back.  That is a level of freaky that I didn’t think I’d ever get to.  So I called her vet who explained that it the nerves have deteriorated and could no longer control the muscle.  He said the leg needs amputated and set me up for the next available surgery day, which was yesterday.

All weekend, I wasn’t sure if I did the right thing.  I was nervous.  I didn’t want her to lose the leg, although I understood why it happens.  I have seen dozens of animals recover quickly from an amputation.  It’s no big deal.  Until its your pet of course.  I just felt that there is something more wrong with her.

She had been losing weight over the last year … and I felt that there was something wrong with her, but blood tests showed nothing remarkable.  High calcium and high platelet count was it, neither of which tell us much and she was on a wait and watch status.

Well, in the last two months, she has lost an additional half pound.  The vet was very concerned about this and called me immediately.  He felt that it is too hasty to amputate … that we need to get behind the weight loss first.  So they gave her a dental cleaning since she was under and drew blood and gave her an x-ray.

The x-ray confirmed the doctor’s original thoughts and diagnosis, and amputation would be the proper thing to do.  It is her elbow that is actually messed up, not her shoulder.  A feline leukemia and FIV test is also negative.  Her blood tests showed regular platelets (meaning that the previous elevation was due to stress, as we found out, that can happen), and high calcium and CPK.   Nobody really knows why cats get high calcium or what to do for it, and CPK is an indicator of muscle wasting, which we know she has, you can see that just looking at her.  The high CPK can mean something with her heart or it can be cancer.

We won’t know unless we do some further testing, seeing a specialist who would probably give her an ultrasound and/or exploratory surgery.   Since she almost didn’t wake up from the anesthesia, we are not going to proceed.  It’s too risky.  We’ll keep her on a wait and watch basis, and if she gets sick we will deal with it.  I am accepting that she has cancer, and since there are no malfunctioning organs, I would imagine its an immune type or a bone cancer, although that is NOT a diagnosis my vet can give us at this point.  And, in case you are wondering, she is only six years old.

She was shaved for the amputation and also along her back where she had some mats … she looks very goofy right now.  I hope to add a photo of that to this post someday.

She was rightfully angry when I brought her home after spending the night at the vet.  She growled at me (and she has never done that) while inhaling food and when I was visiting with her, she pretty much just snubbed me.  So I’d say that she is doing just fine!

Thanks for reading.

I never used to watch The Food Network.  I thought that it would be boring and make me hungry.  I couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to sit around and watch food shows all day.  That was close to the insanity of watching a home shopping channel, but not as bad as watching golf or bowling.

As it turns out, though, they have some interesting shows.  I like Alton Brown’s Good Eats. I’ve learned cooking techniques and about differences in various types of foods (onions, potatoes).  He is funny, sometimes just corny.  Ace of Cakes; Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives; Unwrapped; Challenge … all shows that are entertaining in their own right.   Have you ever seen Emeril?  He never prepares anything that either me or my husband would eat and I think he would be truly stumped by having to create a healthy meal.

And that is my pet peeve with the network.  There is a significant lack of healthy cooking.   I’ve heard that there are shows that do have healthy cooking, but I’ve yet to see it.   However … vegetarians?  Oh forget about it, cause apparently we don’t exist … and if someone does remember that there is such a creature they get it wrong.  Not that I spend a lot of time watching tv in general, I am talking maybe an hour a week with this channel, and different shows each time, as we watch at different times.

Imagine my excitement, when one day Matt turned on the Rachel Ray show 30 Minute Meals, and found out that it is vegetarian day!  Whoo-Hoo!  Let’s see what we do with that.   It was predictable, salad/veggies and pasta.  That is a typical, not very familiar with vegetarian eating standard food.  Everything was going well, she made a cold chickpea and vegetable salad that looked tasty enough that I modified it a tiny bit and made it for my family’s Memorial Day picnic. It was a big hit.  Then she made another type of salad, and included mozzarella cheese.  Okay, that is vegetarian, but if you have a vegan, that is out.  Then to the pasta … spaghetti noodles, grilled vegetables mixed in to a homemade cheesy sauce that included, wait for it …. chicken stock! Yes!  Chicken stock!  Didn’t you know that chicken stock is vegetarian?  Grrrr…….   what a dope! (to quote a good friend of mine).

No … chicken stock is NOT vegetarian! I hope she didn’t really serve that to some actual vegetarians!  If they ate that and then went back and saw the show, they would be pissed off!  Seriously so.

Today, while we were eating our breakfast, we flipped the station on and came across a show that we had never heard of.  Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello.   It was a cooking on the grill episode, naturally, with this being Memorial Day and all.   I learned that many Caesar Salads have anchovies in them.  Eww!  Good thing I never eat Caesar Salad (warning to my vegetarian readers who eat those in restaurants!).   After he made his gross buffet of various animal products, he started on the grilled mozzarella cheese, the potatoes, the bread and zucchini.   Oh boy a vegetarian delight!  He did mention that the vegetables were to appease his vegetarian friends.  What he didn’t realize is that … he cooked the vegetables directly on top of various animal fat!  It’s not vegetarian anymore.

What would these chefs do if handed some tofu, tempeh or seitan?  They’d be perplexed.  Tell them no broth except vegetable and don’t cook with the animals … their heads would probably explode.

The Food Network is doing vegetarians a disservice.  If they are not going to cook it appropriately, they shouldn’t label it as such!

But never fear, I will be here to give you the right information!

One last lesson for tonight, my friends. Fish is an animal.   Fish is NOT a vegetarian food.

Last night, Matt and I headed out for a six mile run.  We weren’t sure if we would go six or seven, as it all depended on how many little humans might be in the baseball field and we feel kind of silly running around the loop several times if they are there.   Turns out, there were kids, but there was also a killer dog … that dog determined it would only be six miles!  He actually wasn’t a killer dog, he was a very friendly boisterous dog who didn’t want to heel with his owner, he wanted to run with us.  That happens a lot.

Anyway, when we were about 9:28 into our run, I glanced at my Garmin to see how fast I was going and how much further until I reached one mile.  I always think I am going to stop to walk at mile one, but I usually keep going.    The Garmin indicated that I was already at one mile.  Whoo Hoo.  Except … not really.  We were more like at .75.   I don’t know what happened, but the Garmin was obviously infected by a virus.

I actually enjoyed the malfunctioning mileage counter.  I loved seeing how fast I was accumulating the miles.  Normally, this only happens in my imagination.  But I had concrete, er, electronic proof that I was a speedy little runner last night.

According to my Garmin, I ran 9.78 miles in 1:14:15.  Oh how I only wish.  I really only went 6.2.  But I can still enjoy pretending.

And speaking of killer animals, yesterday Hallie insisted on coming down to the main living quarters.  She was down here for about 45 minutes, and encountered several cats.  Nobody picked on her, but they were all curious, therefore, they were not ignoring her.  Nobody got into a fight.  However, when she was ready to return to her suite, Cole was standing next to it, staring her down.  He at the top of the stairs, she on the landing.  Just staring at each other.  Neither seemed stressed though.  I don’t know who would have won, as I ended it but picking up Cole and locking him in the bathroom so that the poor girl could get upstairs and settle down.

After our run and dinner, I attempted to finish the baby blanket I am working on.  I had sewn the sides together earlier, however, I had decided to use 1″ seams instead of the 1/2″ as determined by the pattern and, as any one who has any mathematical inclination can tell you (which is obviously not me), the sides were too short.  So I just finished up ripping them apart to make according to the original directions.  Note to self:  Cut bigger pieces of fabric if you want larger seams!

Since I just signed up for this blog today, I felt I should write something, even though I really don’t have anything exceptional to say today.

Do I lead an extraordinary life?  I don’t know.  I like to think I do.  Some days are just extremely ordinary and sometimes dull.  However, I’ve been to China and 25% of the United States, so I am not entirely boring.

I will do my best not to bore you to tears, and I have no idea what direction this blog will take, if any.  So bear with me, and together we will see how the blog develops and grows.  I run a lot and do yoga.  You’ll hear about those adventures.  My family.  My animal rescue tales as a vet tech and feline behaviorist.  My travels.  And, of course, my cats.

Meanwhile, the most exciting thing to happen to me today was a positive interaction between my youngest cat, Cole, and Hallie the destroyer.  For those of you who don’t know Hallie, she is quite the interesting cat.  She is a gray tabby of slight stature.  But her temperament is another matter.  Most humans and all other cats annoy her.  And she is quite antagonistic about it.   She survives in this kitty den by living on the third floor all by herself.  She is happy up there.  She would probably like my company more often, but two hours a day, usually, she gets my divided attention.

Cole, who at 2.5 years old, still very much a kitten, is obsessed with her.  His favorite pastime is running past me on the stairs to get up there and explore.  His favorite thing to do once he gets up there is to eat her food.  As he doesn’t get dry food, he finds her food very exotic.   Usually, when he runs up there, Hallie will instantly attack him and hiss.  Over the years though, she has gotten a little mellower and after her initial attack, she’ll back off and watch.  However, if I try to interact with her, she will turn her frustration on to me.  This is called redirected aggression.

Today, however, while Cole was happily munching on Hallie’s food, I noticed that her water bowl was dirty, resulting in my having to dump the water and clean the bowl.  The remarkable thing was that Hallie came over to me while I was doing it and let me pet her.  Yep.  No aggressive behavior.  Then I scooped her litter boxes and she rubbed against me.  All while Cole was invading her space and eating her food.  I eventually picked up Cole, refilled her food bowl and came downstairs.   I was so proud of Hallie!

The rest of the day was actually productive for me, and I won’t bore you with the details.  But it is noteworthy that the Max & Erma’s restaurant in Robinson Township got my order right.

Till next time!