Life is...

Strange. I have a mix of feeling that lead me to believe that I am in a pretty good space right now. That's a scary thought. It's something that I hesitate to type. But I'm going to, since it is a good thing to focus on the good sometimes.

I also found this pretty birdie. Meep! Meep!

I have plantar faciitis. I also have a freaking great podiatrist who is working me through getting rid of the dang problems. Two shots and a pair of crutches to get around and it should be getting better soon. I even had the forearm crutches from long ago when my arthritis was kicking up bad. Going to be able to walk (hopefully) by Monday, once the steroid crystals go away. Healing is a good thing.

My pooch has a (mostly) clean bill of health and clean teeth. The lump on his foot was benign. And, even though he had a seizure while he was under anesthesia, it was not something more serious. Link is even getting most of the time during the day outside of his Cone of Shame! (He's most happy about being able to play ball now.)

It's been a little over four weeks and I have lost 13.5 pounds. That's pretty impressive for someone who is on two meds that can cause weight gain. First week of shedding? Water. After that? Score! I'm focusing on not going overboard so that it is sustainable and safe. 13.5. Huh. After the foot is fixed I can get back into walking again. Maybe strength training, which I haven't done in years!

My 13th anniversary of my wedding was earlier this month. There was some sadness, as is to be expected, but most of it was looking back at a happy time. Five years we had, and most of it was spent well. Good times.

Finally, I have good friends. I may not see them for months at a time, but I still love them.

But now it is time to find something to eat that is healthier than cookies. I have a full pantry and yet don't want to cook. So many things like that to be thankful for. But I really should come up with dinner other than southwest eggs.

An Interesting Month

 A lot has happened in the last few weeks as for how my life is going.

1. I started not only cutting out the cereal and bread, but actually diving into the illustrious keto side of things. Now, I was compelled to do this for several reasons, some of those were better thought through than others. But it's working. Over the last 3-4 weeks I have lost 11 pounds, acknowledging that four-ish of those are water. Not too shabby, if I don't say so myself. 

2. But I am having to monitor my food intake in a way that I wasn't expecting: I'm actually fighting eating too little. At least I am keeping a close eye on just how much caloric intake I have each day in addition to the traditional keto thing of just monitoring the macros of carb/fat/protein. Dropping too much too fast is nothing that I have run into before while not feeling starved all day. So I'm being careful.

Freedom! No Cone of Shame! (momentarily)

3. Then we have the dog, Link. He went in for a tooth cleaning and to get a little black ... something? ... taken off of his paw. I was chilling at the house waiting for the vet to call to pick up the fuzzbutt when a call came in, but not to pick him up. Don't fret. He's mostly fine. I had to leave him there for a while before coming in at the end of the workday. When I picked him up I got to talk to the vet--Link had a short seizure while he was under anesthesia. All worked out fine, but we will need to keep that in mind in any future procedures. 

4. But I broke shortly after that. I worried about what I would have done if the dog hadn't made it through that procedure. If he had come out different from when he came in. And that sore? I had it sent off for pathology but won't hear back until at least mid next week. So I fret. Is there anything I can do between now and then? No. Is there anything I can do about his seizure? Nope. So it would make sense if I simply put it down as things to take into account and worry about later, if warranted. I am fretting anyway.

5. As a silly thing (well, silly in my sick mind), that Damn Dog started out with stitches on his lower leg where they took off the thing. The vets left for lunch. And came back to carnage where Link had nibbled the stitches out and was bleeding all over the place. (It was only an inch long incision!) So the vet upped the ante: staples! Cone! Oh, that dog can radiate the ultimate sulk when he wants to, and the Cone of Shame is an instant cue to ramp up the sulk. He's been restricted to almost full-time cone since his surgery Tuesday. I finally let him out for a while for a good snuggle, brushing, and playtime tonight. Wow! He mostly behaved in not nibbling at his staples, so long as he is in straight view of me. Hiding in the bedroom out of sight? Nope. Nibblenibblenibble. He gets to stay on his floor bed in front of me where I can see when his sneaky self decides to scratch an itch. Eventually next week he'll get out the itchy things (staples) and then we can see about full-time freedom after that.

But I digress. That's the world as of right now. Welcome to my life.

Dreams and Nightmares

Jason's birthday was on the 5th. I was only partly insane, probably not as much as his awesome mom and dad. Some days are harder than others. Last week 12 years ago we were in Kauai on our Anniversarymoon. For some reason reliving those photo places sent me into a little bit of a not-good-place. Not horrible, mind you, just...uncomfortable? Which is fine. Memories are good and keep his memory alive.

I also had a very strange dream. My pooch, Link, had gotten loose and was running wild in the middle of traffic. I knew it was him from his bright green collar. I saw him get hit. I panicked of course, and tried to drive backwards off the onramp (I even could tell you the exact streets) to get to him. I looked and looked and finally saw him in a vet office being taken care of. His paw was bent at an odd angle and he looked scared. Probably not as scared as when I woke up in a sweat. He's not a child, but I do worry about him, and being rather off from the 5th was just fueling the fire for nightmares--though not of Jason. Just the other male in my life that keeps me sane.

He hasn't been joining me on walks because there haven't been any walks to join. I see the specialist tomorrow to see how we can treat the blasted plantar fasciitis since I've tried all the conservative methods that I know of/could find on the interwebs. Stretches? Got 'em. Strengthening? Been there, done that (and have very happy ankles, just not feet). Exercise? Counterproductive, as it turns out. Good boots? The only thing keeping me on my feet. So we'll see what he says.

The only other thing is that in the past two weeks I have not only lost weight (my feet thank me) but have lost 6 pounds! Yes, the first couple were probably water, but I now officially have gotten rid of a small dose of one of the meds I am on. I am in and out of ketosis depending on the day which seems to have upped the concentration of it--less meds=good thing! So I'm proud. It's only been two weeks and two days, but I will take every bit I can.

But now it is time to figure out what lunch is going to be, considering that I failed to pack anything this morning. Snack food to the rescue! 

As an aside: I have an awesome boss who trusts me to be a productive member of the organization. No micromanaging!