[BillBlueEyes]

Super Bowl Sunday is over - a good game to watch to the bitter end. My eating during the game was stellar; it was before the game that I got into snacks. Ouch. The Valentine's Day candy was stacked in mounds in the supermarket - but had little appeal. It's nice to slowly find myself losing the draw to the seasonal mounds of HFCS and food dye.

Here's hoping that Carter finds a post-Super-Bowl bounce.

[Mudpie]

It snowed here overnight. It's a nice soft snow so the dogs will all be in ecstasy in it - rolling, snorfing, making angels (one of my seniors flips on her back and the results really do look like litte fat angels) and generally behaving like loons. Always a good crowd to hang with on a Monday.

Hope both Carter and bargoo are feeling better from their respective surgeries.

My work pace has finally slowed (for the next two weeks) so I'm looking forward to getting the eating under control, exercising in the morning, and having a bit of time for my cats (one of whom is going back in for a second round of radio-iodine therapy on Feb. 22).

DH has a bad case of , coupled with the seasonal "cabin fever" that a lot of us get in the winter (Mudpie has that too).

Misery is contagious so I am staying as far away from DH as possible. He wants no help and all my suggestions about exercise are "ridiculing me because I'm fat".

So I'll do my own thing, take him out for his birthday next Sat., and that's that.

I will have to rethink the popcorn/drink at the movie. I was ravenous after that and couldn't be satisfied with dinner. My theory is that there are chemicals in the "movie food" that switch on my appetite.

I think I'm going to start going to class on Sunday afternoon instead of the movie. Only herbal tea there!

Good Monday all!
Dagmar

[Megan1982]

It's another rainy day here (but at least it's not snow or ice!). My work email is denying me access to the account for unknown reasons, but since I'm at home trying to check it I don't have the phone numbers to call IT help. Of course when I get to work I won't have a phone or internet access to call IT help... oh wait I still won't have the phone number... yeah, I think it's going to be one of those weeks.

Dagmar, there are definitely chemicals in movie food that make one behave crazily. You're not the only one to have this experience! Actually I'm thinking of a NYT article about a scientific study along the vein that eating fat causes one to crave fat... but of course a quick search didn't bring that study up. Sigh, will try to remember to look later.

I'm anxiously waiting to hear how Carter's doing.

[alinnell]

We had a nice day yesterday. We went to see Spamalot! and then came home to the superbowl, which we had recorded so we wouldn't miss any. I prepared a bunch of fresh veggies with dip and spread out several cheeses and sausages with crackers and later we had some shrimp tempura. While plain shrimp with cocktail sauce would have been a better choice, these things had been in my freezer and needed to get out. I got rid of 3 of the 6 bricks of cheese as well as 2 of 3 sausages. I let the dogs have the leftovers which was funny. Chico go the heel of one sausage and thought it was the best thing ever! He carried it around for half an hour prancing and showing off before he finally ate it. Makes me think I ought to just slice up the other one and dole it out to the dogs over the next few days.

The weather here is warming up nicely and I want to golf but the course where we normally golf is having a two day tournament next weekend so no golf (unless we pay outrageous greens fees somewhere else). DH needs new clubs and one shop is having a demo day on Saturday, so he's going to go do that instead. I might join him and see what I can find.

[saef]

Our thaw is continuing for a second day, which has really elevated my mood.

So I'm sending a little burst of strength and optimism in the general direction of Jessica's family, with hopes that the report on Carter is good.

And out to Bargoo as well.

I'm in Connecticut again, at the office.

One of the things that I have to hang onto, when I think about the effort of keeping to a healthy weight, is how very much I enjoy dressing up for work in the morning. There's my closet with really nice clothes, and then I get to do the makeup & the hair, spray on some perfume, put on some earrings. I really do enjoy being a girl. (Which is probably why my absolutely favorite junk TV show of all time is "RuPaul's Drag Race," because the contestants also really, really enjoy being girls.)

And it's a lot more fun to be a girl when you don't feel disappointed by the image in the mirror & stare into it in the morning wishing you could photoshop it this way & that. I am not completely satisfied, there are still things I'd like to change, but really, it's acceptable to me, and there are also other things in my life to think about making better.

Mondays are for recovery & also for making resolutions & renewing one's efforts.

[paperclippy]

Hi guys! We are feeling optimistic today. The vet said that given Carter's current status with his rear legs, he ought to be able to pee on his own. He thinks the reason he doesn't pee when we take him outside is that he's actively holding it in (perhaps he is uncomfortable in the sling, perhaps he is afraid we'll try to express his bladder again), and that when he lays down he relaxes and since he's so full it just comes out. We're going to try giving him more time outside and rubbing some of the soiled pee pads in the snow out there. I guess if the smell of his pee triggers him to pee, it's no wonder he's peeing in the house since our whole house reeks right now. I see a steam cleaning of the carpets in our future. So in any case no luck getting him to pee outside yet, but we're hopeful, and the vet said that he ought to have his bladder under control in the next day or two at most. They're also reducing his prednisone dosage to see if that will help with the bladder issues.

In other Carter news, he's able to poop normally which is great. He can walk around on his own steam if we give him side-to-side support although he does walk on his knuckles (they said positioning his toes would be the last thing to come back) and if we don't support him he falls sideways. He can get himself up with some difficulty -- one of his legs is much stronger than the other so he sometimes just gets his feet tangled up and can't do it. Once he's up and standing he can stay there on his own for a good amount of time. Getting up and walking around does seem to exhaust him pretty quickly so he is still sleeping most of the time. Hopefully once we get him to pee on his own we will be able to get some more sleep during the night since we won't have to be cleaning him up every hour or two.

Biopsy results aren't back yet so we're still waiting on that. We were pretty wigged out when we called the vet this morning, but I think now that DH has heard from the vet that Carter ought to be able to pee on his own in a day or so he is much more on board with the whole process and much more optimistic, which helps me a lot since his negativity was really getting me down. Hopefully now that DH feels more optimistic he will stop having panic attacks too.

[alinnell]

Great news Jessica! I just heard from a friend who's dog had ear surgery and had leaking urine for a couple days post surgery, so I guess it isn't uncommon. And knuckle walking may continue off and on for the rest of his life. Buddy has been doing it for a couple of years now and although it makes him stumble and sometimes fall he doesn't seem bothered by it. It's actually kind of comical--if he goes out front with me to check the mail, he's unable to walk normally at all. He trots (he's never been a walker--always a trotter) and then starts with landing on his knuckles and he starts veering all over the sidewalk and that just makes him go faster and I'm afraid he'll run into my son's car. He's like a drunken sailor. But once out on the driveway and front lawn he slows down and is back to normal.

[kaw]

Originally Posted by alinnell

No. He said it would be easier on my joints if I weighed less while jogging. At the time I was around 148 and feeling like I should be around 140 and he said 135 would be better if I was going to continue running a lot. I've decided on my own that 135 is not realistic in my case.

Yet another reason not to run. As if I needed any more...

I survived the Super Bowl reasonably well. I made baked buffalo wings for The Boys, buffalo breasts minus the butter in the sauce for me, which is another way of saying chicken breasts marinated in hot sauce. Aside from a taste-test of one drummie, and a tablespoon or so of guacamole -- good fat -- I stuck with my chicken breasts and veggies. No beer, even. I'll be up a bit on the scale tomorrow, if for no other reason than the sodium, but it's all good.

Glad to hear Carter is going better, Jessica. Hopefully a full night's sleep is in your future, after which you'll be in a much better mental place.

Dagmar, your patience with DH never ceases to amaze me.

Thanks for the Monday renewal reminder, Saef. I'm kind of dragging today, and your post cheered me up.

Big Happy Monday to all the other maintainers and last-few-pounders out there. Just out of curiosity, do most of you also read the Featherweights section? I posted there for a while when I first joined 3FC, then read both, but since I've been back I found that three boards is too many to keep up with. (I also post to the weight training board.) But, it seems like a lot of maintainers are actually trying to lose a few pounds, and a lot of the featherweights have maintained a loss for a while, so I can see room for crossover.

//b. strong,
Kim

[paperclippy]

Talk about one thing after another! We took Carter in to the vet today because his stomach was looking distended. Turned out not to be a problem, but while we were there they drained his bladder with a catheter so hopefully his urination will be normal now (he hasn't dripped yet at least). Carter's mobility is coming back very quickly and he is now getting up and trying to walk on his own. Now of course DH is freaking out because he thinks that confining Carter to a crate is going to be impossible to do. He is not crate trained (that we know of) and hates to be separated from his people. I figure we can keep him on a leash when we're home and then crate him when we're out. In any case it's certainly not as much to worry about as his bladder! I think sometimes that DH *needs* to be worrying about something.

[JayEll]

paperclippy, from what dog owners have told me, most dogs feel happy to be in a crate, contrary to what one might think. They feel more secure. My sister has had up to five dogs at a time, and even the really big ones love their crates.

Jay

[traveling michele]

I missed what happened with bargoo. I hope you are well and recovering nicely from what you had.

Jessica-- my, you have had a hard time with Carter. I hope he continues to recover nicely.

I am back from chaperoning a trip to Disney for my daughter's choir (HS). It was utterly exhausting. We had to wake the kids up at 6 am each day (except day one when we had to be at the school at 5:15 for departure!), and they didn't return to the hotel until midnight each night. I walked a ton (over 11 miles one day) but my food choices weren't stellar and I am swollen and my weight is up. I'm trying hard to flush out as much of the water/weight as possible. I'm off to the gym soon to get back to my routine. We were on the bus yesterday for 7 hours and there were tons of sick kids-- fevers, coughs, vomiting... I'm just waiting to get sick. Dh was with me and he already has a cold!

Dd's 16th birthday is tomorrow and she wants Starbucks for breakfast and a Mexican restaurant for dinner (taco Tuesday) so that will be another challenge for me.

Hello to everyone else!

[Megan1982]

Glad to hear the good news, Jessica! Carter sounds like he's coming along quite well. My parents dog, who is now 9 years old, is anxiety prone and he commonly goes to sleep in his crate. My parents very rarely use the crate, they just leave it open for him w blankets in it, and we all really think it makes him feel secure. Even Emma, who we are still actively using it with, sometimes goes in and lays down on her blanket when she's tired. I really think it's a good training tool and we feel worse than the dogs do. Glad Carter is doing better!

Bedtime for me.

[saef]

I think the "crate" thing has to do with humans & their associations, which are not at all the same as animals' associations.

Humans: Crates are for freight & shipping, for storing inanimate objects, like dishes or off-season clothes. Thus, getting into one makes us feel less human & more like a stashed-away object. We don't like to be confined, in the dark, in close quarters. We get claustrophobic. We're only boxed in the beginning, if stuck in an incubator, or at the end, when placed in a coffin. Thus, all kinds of unpleasant feelings are involved, unless the box is big & airy & has lots of windows & stimulating things around (i.e., is a room, not a box).

Animals: Crates are burrows or caves. They're womblike. Or like being curled up tightly against their mama's belly while they were still blind & squirming. They're safe little crannies to dive into when one feels threatened by something big coming after them: a sanctuary or refuge. Or they're objects of curiosity that need to be poked into. In particular, they're for a much-needed time out from an overly stimulating world of sights, smells, noises. And they are a mystery worth exploring. I always used to be amused by our family's cat & how she behaved when there was an empty box left lying about in the house. No matter where it was, she would find it & go into it & more than likely end up lying in it or at least hunching down in it for a while & laying low, staring out at the world from her new niche.

So I think Carter will be fine. The word "crate" has no dehumanizing associations for him as it does for us people.

[paperclippy]

Morning guys. Still no dice with Carter's bladder. Last night we rushed him in to the vet ER because he was trembling -- turns out that his digestive system is still recovering from the surgery and is slowed down, and the distended stomach and trembling are basically a bad tummy ache. There is just a whole lot of food in there that's not getting processed as quickly as normal. In any case now we have instructions to feed him a bland diet (back to chicken and rice, no kibble) for a few days, and feed him smaller quantities more frequently. While we were there they drained his bladder with a catheter again, and gave us a new medication to give him that should make it easier for him to go on his own. No luck yet as of this morning -- he's still letting some out in his bed and none when we take him outside.

The positive side is that his motor skills seem to be returning well. It's frustrating because I feel like this would be infinitely easier if he could just pee on his own. Even if he was just like a puppy that is not house trained, that would be easier than the constant peeing 24/7 and not having any idea when he will regain control (esp. since the vets said he should have control by now, given his motor skills).

In other news I'm scheduled for a physical this morning so DH will be on his own with the dog for a couple hours. I think he is going to ask his mom to come over and help out some. I'm betting all my tests at my physical will be way off from stress. My appointment isn't until 10 and I have to fast, so I'm hoping I will have enough energy to drive there safely.

[iriswhispers]

Jessica, I'm glad to hear a little bit of positive news about Carter...slowly but surely. Bummer about the tummy troubles on top of everything, though.

Michele, enjoy your DD's birthday - sounds tough with food choices but I'm sure it will be nice to share the day with her =)

Kim, I used to post on featherweights but it slowed down awhile ago and I haven't checked it in ages... maybe it's picked back up again, I may have to take a look =) Then again, I have enough trouble keeping up with one thread!

Saef, I definitely feel you on being able enjoy getting dressed and looking nice as a weight maintenance motivation. It would be nice if my work was a little less casual dress, but I see where lab work is not made for that.

I've got a nasty cold and last night my BF decided to get McDonald's for dinner. I told him I didn't want anything - with all the congestion I wouldn't have been able to taste it, anyway. Well, he came back with an extra order of fries for me and I discovered that I could taste SALT and it was pretty tasty. So I ate them all and a few of his McNuggets - nothing like a wholesome meal to help my body heal