“New Year, New ???”

I’ve never been one to stick to New Year Resolutions, but this year, there were a few things that I’ve been meaning to accomplish that just kind of came to a head right around the beginning of January.  The one “resolution” I made will be kept a secret, because then if I fail at it, it’s just a personal failure, not a public one.  These other two things that have been on my mind I prefer to call “life changes”.

First and foremost, on everyone’s to-do list every year, is fitness.  I’ve been noticing that since I turned 30 a couple years ago, my metabolism hasn’t exactly been my best friend anymore, and I’ve developed this unpleasant thing around my midsection I’ll refer to as “The Muffin”.

Not trying to be snotty, or brag, but honestly I’ve never had to deal with “The Muffin” before.  The concept is kind of foreign to me.  All through my childhood up through my teens I carried around a stick-like appearance that earned me the nickname of “Twiggy” in high school, and in my 20’s I was always on the thinner side of average (but I was also a LOT more active.)  “The Muffin” has me running scared.

My two main problems with “The Muffin” are motivation and commitment.  I have a hard time getting motivated to exercise as I usually don’t get home from work until 7pm or later, and once I do find some sort of routine I generally don’t stick with it very long.  So this time I’ve tried bribing myself with a gadget – the Fitbit Force.  We’ll see if I can snap my rear into gear when I can see “real time” how I’ve been doing during the day.

My second goal for the year is to cook more meals at home.  Again, my problems here are that I don’t get home until 7pm, so it’s hard to cook an entire meal and get it on the table at a reasonable eating time, and also that I lack the motivation to plan meals out so I rarely deviate from the same standard 4 fall-back meals that I always make.

Boring…

I noticed on one of my “deal of the day” emails I always get a website that does your meal planning for you called “nomoretogo.com”.  We didn’t end up going with that one, but instead one called FoodontheTable.com – where you can customize a little more with what proteins you like and how you like to cook.  So far I get a meal plan every week in my email inbox on Friday, complete with a grocery store list in the app, and I LOVE IT.  Hopefully I can keep this trend going!

I think we’re in the clear….

I can’t even express how tickled pink I am that Aspen is doing so so well.  It’s a little harder for her in the mornings, but that’s the arthritis and it’s been that way for a while now.  She’s actually trotting to go outside and come back in, we took a little 1/4 mile walk the other day she seemed to enjoy, and she’s almost back to eating like her old self again.  Funny thing is, she’s only really keen on the Honest Kitchen foods, which is fine by me at the moment.  Whatever mama wants, mama is going to get at this point.  She’s taking her meds eagerly in the pill pockets, and this afternoon actually grabbed a toy to play with Derby just a little bit.

It’s really nice to see her so far along on the path to getting better, especially after being so close to losing her.  She’s actually sleeping by my chair as I type this right now, having INSISTED that she needed in our bedroom.  She actually considered jumping on our bed before I convinced her the floor was probably a better idea (there’s no way she’d make that jump).

Bought some of the Honest Kitchen Pro-Bloom (Goat’s Milk) and made a little batch for her, Derby and the cat (Checkers) to try – it was a pretty enthusiastic four paws up from Aspen and Derby, and maybe a two paws up from Checkers (maybe it’s because it wasn’t in a 24k gold dish delivered by her manservant, I don’t know).

Not only all that, but the weather is GORGEOUS here this weekend. Things are looking up all around!  Yay!

Pelicans!!!

Not much to say today. Wade’s been sick and I’ve been bored, so here’s a pic of a pelican to keep you entertained!

Final Aspen update for a while!

For those of you following the Aspen saga, she’s doing really really well!  She’s been eating 3-4 times a day, taking all her meds, and generally perking up more and more each day!  I started weaning her back ON her arthritis supplements last night in addition to all her other meds, and she’s doing really well with those so far too!

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone for your kind words of support and prayers.  It’s been a rough couple weeks for all of us, but we’re in the home stretch and feeling great about it!!!

Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL New Year!!!

If you haven’t heard enough about Aspen yet…

Here’s another update 😉

Aspen is doing REALLY WELL!  I’m trying to remain cautiously excited, but it’s really looking good for her right now!  I’ve gotten almost en entire can of food in her today and she’s kept it down.  She’s also kept down all her meds and homeopathics and a bunch of coconut water.  She’s still not doing very well with her limp, but she’s got really bad arthritis, and honestly that was troubling for her even before the bout with pancreatitis, so I’m not really concerned about the limping.  =)  It does seem much better in the afternoons about an hour or two after her dose of arnica, so I’m thinking that’s probably really helping her out!

I spent some time out in the backyard working on winterizing the garden (I know, I know, Winter is almost over) and she found herself a nice little sunny spot in the yard and lounged around for a bit watching what I was doing.  She really seemed to enjoy her time outside, and I was really happy to see her sunning herself.

I know, realistically in the grand scheme of things, she probably doesn’t have a whole heck of a lot of time left in this world, but I’m so happy to have been granted some more time with her and that she’s feeling good enough to enjoy it.  Thank you so much everyone for your prayers for her – it’s been a rough road, and though we’re not out of the woods yet, I can see the clearing through the trees!!!