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Old 01-31-2011, 04:14 AM   #1  
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Default Maintainers Weekly Chat Jan 31 - Feb 6, 2011

Blue skies yesterday - good for walking, which I did. For some reason this year everyone has shoveled their sidewalks well (as is the law) so walking can be done on them rather than the streets which are pretty narrow with the snow piled so deeply on each side.

Spent the weekend continuing to de-clutter books and stuff for the painting/refresh job on the interior of our house scheduled for this summer. I feel like I'm facing 40 years of decisions not made as books were just added to shelves read, unread, half-read, or never-to-be-read. The wonder of computer hard disks getting so much bigger allows me to avoid that same nasty job electronically.
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Old 01-31-2011, 05:48 AM   #2  
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Default Good Morning!

Bill Could you come to my house please after you're done decluttering yours?

week for me this week - working 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. so nothing but work, eat, sleep. I'm going to do my best to stay strong and stay away from all the chocolate and cookies my cat sit is offering. No really, she puts post-its on all these boxes of stuff saying "enjoy". Think I'll put it all downstairs - out of sight . . . out of etc.

Then I get a weekend OFF!

It'll be the first weekend since Christmas that I don't have to look after someone's pets. Maybe I can even get around to putting away my Christmas gifts!

Good week all! I'll check in briefly when I can!

Dagmar
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Old 01-31-2011, 08:12 AM   #3  
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Not sure how this week is going to pan out for me. DD wasn't too well yesterday and this morning was definitely not well enough for school, so usual Monday plan of two classes at the gym was quickly changed. She did however watch a dvd in bed so I could do one of my new workout dvd's in the lounge which really kicked my butt so still managed to get in a good workout.
Weight wise I'm not sure what's going on as I gave blood last Thur and don't know if my weight is true right now. I'm hoping it is and by the end of the week I might actually see a new official low.
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Old 01-31-2011, 08:30 AM   #4  
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I can't believe that I was actually pleased by the prospect of getting up this morning & commuting into Connecticut to work.

The snow makes me feel I'm under siege, and living in those conditions, any outing is a triumph.

Here I am in the office, drinking coffee that I didn't have to make for myself, and chatting with my boss about snow rakes & snow removal from roofs & my years growing up in Upstate NY, where people live in a "heavy snow culture" & take large snowfalls as a matter of course, and must adapt to them, rather than feeling victimized & gypped in some way of a "normal" winter, as people do down here.
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Old 01-31-2011, 09:05 AM   #5  
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Hi all,

Another busy weekend here. When Emma peed on the carpet at approximately 9:15 Saturday evening, I reached my patience/tired limit for the day (not all Emma related, I was just tired), and declared it bedtime for everyone in the house. She'd just been out to pee 20 minutes before, but then was whining that we weren't paying attention to her - believe me she'd gotten tons of attention all day - so it was more of a rebellious pee, than a needed to go out pee, in my opinion. Actually other than that she was very good all weekend.

I donated blood last Wed. and was excited to see the blood center offers one's cholesterol levels online. I checked Saturday - 217. Whaaaat. I was really shocked and upset! I eat so healthily, exercise, few processed foods. The only thing I can think that would make a slight difference is that after years of near daily oatmeal, I got tired of it and have been eating whole wheat toast or bagels with lowfat cream cheese and homemade pepper jelly for breakfast for the past month or so. I'd also eaten quite a few egg sandwiches lately, with two whole eggs. But 17+ points worth in a month or so? My dad's family does have a history of high BP and cholesterol, but after testing in my early 20's after losing weight the doc said my cholesterol was "fine" and since my BP was also historically low, I thought no need to worry about those things. I guess it's back to oatmeal and one yolk only, and see what my cholesterol levels are at next donation. I'm 28 for cripes sake.

Yes, Bill, maybe you could swing by my house when you're done with Dagmar's.

Saef, sorry about all the snow. My favorite TV channel TWC tells me it's been quite a year for snow. Hang in there.

Lovingme, hope DD feels better soon.

Dagmar, I hope you have a good pet-sit. Yes, ignore those treats!

Michele, sending you lots of . Losing a pet friend is so hard.
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Old 01-31-2011, 09:24 AM   #6  
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Megan1982, I'm far from a medical professional, but I thought cholesterol readings ought to be taken when one is fasting, right? And if you donated blood, you probably weren't fasting beforehand, were you? Might that be enough to skew the reading by 17 points? I appeal to others with more knowledge of such things than myself.

Reading this thread makes me want to get a cat. I can't have a dog, they're not allowed in my apartment complex, which is known for deep verdant lawns, flower garden, fountains and 75-year-old trees & other plantings. In fact, they don't even let the very few children in the complex play on the lawns very much, as so many parts are restricted.
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Old 01-31-2011, 09:33 AM   #7  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saef View Post
Megan1982, I'm far from a medical professional, but I thought cholesterol readings ought to be taken when one is fasting, right? And if you donated blood, you probably weren't fasting beforehand, were you? Might that be enough to skew the reading by 17 points? I appeal to others with more knowledge of such things than myself.
Saef, you're right! I just looked it up. Ok, Megan, don't get too excited about something until you do your research. I ate breakfast, including coffee, around 7:15 and donated around 11:30, so that may have skewed results. I will have to get a physical for diving for work soon, and the last time they did that bloodwork I did indeed fast before it (of course it was 5 years ago... don't remember if they even showed me cholesterol #s). But this time I will be sure to look at/ask for those results specifically.

Whew, I feel so much better.
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Old 01-31-2011, 09:48 AM   #8  
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Megan~the same thing happened to me on a cholesterol test. I had to have one as part of a life insurance policy screening. I didn't know that it was part of the screening and no one said not to eat breakfast. So my cholesterol was high and it freaked me out. When I was retested a few months later (after properly fasting) everything was within normal limits.

We went to see both THe King's Speech and The Fighter this weekend. Good movies, however the Fighter starts off really, really slow and I didn't think I liked it at all, but it got much better. Seems to me my DD told me that very thing.

Golf on Saturday and I did a HIIT (kind of) workout on the treadmill on Sunday and I'm not sore! Very strange. But I feel good so I am hoping to do more treadmill time after work.

In searching my house yesterday for the treadmill manual (which I never found) I've decided I really need to clean out a few closets here. I am by no means a hoarder, but I do have some things stored that I obviously no longer need so I should get rid of them. I just don't want to spend my free time cleaning. I know, I'm whining, I should just do it!

Everyone have a great week!
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Old 01-31-2011, 10:36 AM   #9  
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Good Monday everyone.
The thread is moving bright and early today. We must all need it or the socializing or some combination thereof.

Bill-- yes, please, put me in the queue to declutter. I keep trying but I don't think I'm making any headway as more crap comes in than goes out.

Allison-- I want to see both the King's Speech and the Fighter so I'm glad you said the latter starts off slowly. It is a good idea to know these things before you give up on a movie. I like to know that about books too or I don't always persevere to the good parts.

Megan-- glad you are no longer freaked out by your cholesterol. You remind me that I need to donate soon. I should have done it on one of my Mondays off but alas, they are over.

Saef-- you should get a cat (or two!). Have you had kitties before? They are the EASIEST pets out there. Almost no training, they give love and affection (especially boy kitties) and they require little upkeep. I highly recommend!

Loving me-- hope your dd feels better. Good for you for still getting exercise in. My dd was sick last week and that blew one of my workouts and then my doggie baby died on Friday blowing another workout. I got back to the gym Saturday and Sunday-- just struggling for normalcy.

Dagmar-- stay strong on your cat sit. Good for you for hiding the bad stuff. And hooray for a weekend off!!

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts about my Ozzie. I'm still in shock because it wasn't expected. He is the first pet we've had that we didn't put to sleep. It is much different when you are the one making the decision than when it is out of your hands. I've seen many, many dogs put to sleep (I worked for vets for 15 years and saw it almost daily unfortunately), but it is the first time a dog has died in my arms. I had nightmares all night Saturday night (plus an earthquake woke me) so I had very little sleep this weekend. I went to bed early last night and do feel somewhat better today emotionally and physically.

Our other dog, Jozi, is obviously mourning Ozzie. She has never known a day without him. She is very clingy and we are giving her lots of love. Dh and I are leaving Friday for Disneyland to chaperone dd's choir trip. I called the kennel yesterday to tell them Jozi would be coming alone and they were so sweet. They are going to give Jozi lots of extra attention and pair her up with a good playmate (the kennel has them play outside observed during the day).

I better get to work here before I get weepy again!
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Old 01-31-2011, 11:38 AM   #10  
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Michele, I'm so sorry about Ozzie.

I think this is the week of bad dog news. Yesterday Carter hurt his spine at some point during the day (we think maybe when he was jumping onto the sofa and landed awkwardly on DH's legs). He struggled to get up the stairs in the evening so we knew something was wrong, but we thought he had maybe pulled a muscle. At 2am he woke me up and was acting funny so I went downtstairs with him to let him out. When he came back in he couldn't make it up the stairs at all -- he got to the first landing with lots of struggling then just sat there, trembling all over. DH and I both came downstairs and spent the rest of the night in the living room with him. This morning DH took him to the vet (I had to go to my own doc appt) and after examining and xraying him they said he has inflammation in his spine -- could be a slipped or compressed disk. They gave him steroid injections and gave us prescriptions for steroids and painkillers. Since he isn't showing any signs of paralysis (he wasn't even limping while walking on a flat surface, just looked uncomfortable and sat down frequently), they think the steroids will be enough to get him better.

In the meantime I'm working from home so I can give him painkillers if he needs them, and because he is scared and seems to be having a lot of separation anxiety right now (I went upstairs to take a shower this morning and left him alone, and he started barking pitifully). We're planning on bringing our mattress downstairs so we can stay with him since he can't get up the stairs until he is better. We also are going to try to fashion some kind of ramp to put on our back deck stairs so he can get in and out to do his business.

Right now I've got him set on a dog bed in the sunny spot he likes to sleep in. For some reason he's trying to keep his head up instead of laying it down, and he's falling asleep and doing that thing where his head starts to droop and then he suddenly wakes up and jerks it back up. It looks pretty goofy but I'm afraid he'll hurt himself. I wonder why he doesn't just put his head down?

In any case I am hoping he will make a full recovery. We just booked a vacation in August which we were going to bring him along on so he could do lots of running and swimming, so hopefully this will not be a chronic problem. A friend of mine's dog had a slipped disk and it took months to treat -- she ended up needing surgery, and the dog still occasionally needs to take medication.

Sorry for the ramble, I'm pretty freaked out right now.
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Old 01-31-2011, 12:39 PM   #11  
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Good morning everyone! After a nice sunny weekend we are back into grey skies and rain. At least it isn't snow and ice. I got out on Saturday - washed DH's car, ran at the park. Felt like I accomplished something at least.

Bill - declutter my house too, please!

Dagmar - stay strong with the cat sit snacks, you can do it! Do you have any big plans for your coming weekend off?

LovingMe - hope DD feels better soon! It is so hard to keep to a schedule when people are sick, I know. I hope you don't get whatever she has.

Saef - I'm glad that you are enjoying the morning in the office! Do you normally work at home most of the time? I would be jonesing for company every now and then, and even office coffee I imagine! And cats are good pets, absolutely.

Megan - same thing happened to me after a cholesterol test where I didn't fast. You will come out much better on your work fasted physical, I have no doubt.

Allison - right there with you on the not wanting to spend free time cleaning. I don't even want to think about some of the things I've been putting off getting rid of because I don't want to put the effort into taking them down for the trash pickup.

Michele - I'm so sorry about Ozzie. I hope Jozi is okay - I know that she is sad. And you guys too.

Jessica - sorry about Carter's back, too. Ouch. I do hope he will be recovered for your trip. It is hard when you can't always tell how much pain they are in.

Good day everyone!
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Old 02-01-2011, 05:48 AM   #12  
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saef If you're serious about getting a cat you should probably get two. It sounds like they would have to be indoor cats in your building and one cat generally will get really obese if they are indoor.

Of course you could buy them a treadmill . . .

Speaking of cats I dove head first into the snacks I had put away at the cat's house. Combination of frustration at a dog, exhaustion, and anxiety at what the weather people keep calling "a massive storm" coming.

These weather things didin't used to bother me so much but now I dread them. I'm not sleeping at night much so any impediment during the day is not going to help this week. 30 inches of snow is quite an impediment.

Time to get at it. Only 4 more days and I get a break.

Dagmar
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Old 02-01-2011, 08:36 AM   #13  
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Dagmar - wow 30" of snow! So glad i was there last week, it was mighty cold when we landed (-24ish) but warmed up to a very tolerable temperature on the 2nd day.

Allison - look online for your treadmill manual. Just go to the manufacturer's website, I am sure you will find it there and can download a PDF.

Week one on the 'new regime' is going OK.
Diligent in the exercise dept. - not 100% in staying away from the chow.
...baby steps

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Old 02-01-2011, 08:56 AM   #14  
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Hi guys. Yesterday Carter's condition deteriorated and his rear legs became paralyzed. We rushed him to the vet surgery center and he is currently in the ICU there. They did xrays and CT scans and were expecting to see a clearly ruptured disc on the CT, which they would then do spinal decompression surgery on, but the scans didn't come out like they expected so they postponed the surgery. We're still waiting to hear from them this morning. If we don't hear in the next ten minutes we can call for an update. At the same time there was a massive ice storm and everything is closed, so I don't even know if the vet made it in yet this morning. The best case scenario is that they find the problem and do the surgery this morning, in which case he has an 85% chance of recovering his ability to walk (assuming he did not get worse during the night, in which case it would drop to 50%). I'm scared out of my mind. Our house feels so empty without him here. DH and I are trying to be optimistic but it's hard. At this point we've done everything we can and he is in the hands of the experts. Extra love to DH because they came in to give us an estimate of the cost of the surgery and he didn't even look at it, just said, "Where do we sign?"
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Old 02-01-2011, 09:01 AM   #15  
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Jessica.
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