Jessica-- we did our first two cruises with Disney and they do spoil you for other cruises! But they are much more expensive, so we haven't cruised them in a long time. All of the big lines have very good kids' programs which I suspect your girls would love-- my girls were too shy and wouldn't let us leave them-- they were too far apart in age to be in the same group-- but you wouldn't have that issue!
We did Holland America and found the clientele to be very geriatric but much depends on when, where and for how long you're cruising (the longer cruises get an older crowd as they are often retired).
We've mostly cruised with Princess and will continue as they (and other ones do similar programs ) offer benefits to you for multiple cruises-- upgrades, early embarkation, etc.

Someday I want to cruise the more expensive and smaller lines, like Oceania, but we aren't ready to spend the money yet.

Unfortunately no, we had a terrible week. Her neurologic signs improved rather quickly last week and she was walking fairly well again, but her appetite was still poor and she was lethargic. Last Thursday, I brought her in to work, ran labwork and panicked at the results so we did a CT scan. She had a large tumor in her spleen that was hemorrhaging into the abdomen, some suspicious enlarged lymph nodes, and evidence that she was throwing blood clots. In retrospect, I realize that she had thrown a clot to her spinal cord and that was the cause of the sudden neuro symptoms. So we had to decide on the spot whether to have a splenectomy performed, knowing that the chances were at least 70% that this was a malignant tumor (and if so, a type that doesn't respond to chemo, so survival rate is poor). We decided that the most humane option was to euthanize her instead. And it hurt so bad, we weren't ready at all.

And then my parents showed up, because by the time I knew it was bad, they were already in Oregon. So they stayed with us 5 days. I don't know, maybe it was a good thing that we were distracted by the cooking and driving and constant entertaining that they required. But it felt wrong, we wanted to be able to mourn her and instead we were having to hold it together. My parents are thinking of moving up here so we spent a lot of time with realtors, touring houses, etc. Now that they are gone, the loss of Luna is hitting home. It was a rotten feeling when I came back to work this week - this is the downside of working in a vet hospital, having to come right back to the place where we got terrible news and said goodbye to our girl.

RIP Luna (aka "Loony Lovegood").

Oh JayZeeJay-- I'm sorry doesn't begin to explain it. So very, very sorry. RIP to Luna and to hugs to you all. Yes, I remember working at vets and having to euthanize my own pets there. And with the staff knowing you and your pets so they are sad with you-- just heart wrenching. She was your dobie? It's hard for me to see the images and I can't blow them up-- she looks like she was full of life though.

wow, this turned in to the busiest thread on the board!

JayZeeJay Really really sorry to hear about Luna, she looks an absolutely gorgeous girl. That's so sad. I don't know how you can work in a vet hospital either - that must be a roller coaster of emotions every day without even your personal side happening. Hope you have a quiet weekend and time to mourn her, just yourselves.

Alinnell it sounds hectic at your house but good the dynamics are starting to settle down! I have one large mix/hound type dog, no kids, one husband. That's plenty for me!!

michele you're living up to your name alright! Its great you have so much planned. Jealous!! Agree with the length of work trip thing. It's the same when you're the one doing the working away too, i.e. 2 weeks is ok, but 3 weeks really does start to feel a long time. Yep, i'm pretty sedentary at the moment - I keep re-injuring my knee so normally I love trekking and would go a couple of times a week, and do some spin classes to top up the fitness too, but I haven't been able to for about 6 months, so all I do really is shuffle round with the dog twice a day for around 20-30 minutes each, and my physio stuff. My job is sedentary at the moment too, so 900 cal per day has been easy. Or rather I've had to be super-strict with nothing 'naughty' to eat, but on the other hand I've not been hungry.


howlinaAtthemoonyep, I guess what I've been doing this year would definitely be called a low-cal diet, but it was my own invention and not a recognised thing (but ended up pretty much the same as the Mediterranean Diet). It's definitely the fastest I've ever lost (due to consistency), although i was within the normal recommended brackets (40lb off this year, so about 2lb a week. Yep hoping to be able to increase my daily calories a fair bit eventually and still maintain, although I will do it gradually because I really don't want to put weight straight back on!. And I think my metabolism still seems good, so that's good. But I would definitely benefit from some resistance training as well- just not quite motivated yet!
I think it's worked for me so well because I've lost fast though I'm not sure i'd've stayed motivated to continue if i'd been doing a less drastic approach, especially when I was so uncomfortable with how I looked at the start. But now i'm super excited to be where I am, so hopefully that's enough encouragement to keep me motivated through this rest-of-life transition period!

paperclippy yay to you for seeing some results this week. Nice work. Hope the weekend is kind to you too and doesn't sabotage your efforts!

Ange, we have our moments here!



Wave to all. My research and writing business (est. 1987) has been drying up in these times of austerity so I'm starting a new business: decluttering and organising. It's very good exercise!

The decluttering business is getting to be quite the industry here in North America. My cousin's wife has her own business doing the decluttering and organising (and a bit of staging) and she's doing very well now after a couple of years of getting things going.

Dagmar

Thanks, Dagmar, that's very interesting. I don't think there's much (any?) competition out here in the sticks and I think there is the opportunity. If I'm really serious about this then the next step is business card and website.

I use Vistaprint for all my branded business stuff - business cars, sticky notes, t shirts, and the magnetic signs on my car. One of their designs worked to my purposes very well and I'm happy with their product and pricing. https://www.vistaprint.ca/?xnav=SitesBar

Dagmar

JayZee I'm so sorry! She looks very happy in the pics.

Dagmar

JayZeeJay, it is very sad to hear about Luna. What a lovely dog she was. I'm sorry you lost her, and sorry for your grief.

Birchie, good luck with your new business! Will you have on-line clients or just in-person?

We seem to have acquired a "pet" raven or crow. Does anyone know much about these birds? I get the feeling it is a young one, although fully feathered, but I have no way to really tell. It comes over when I "caw" to it, and so far it eats pieces of chicken, dead sparrows, and mice. It is not interested in kibbled cat food, peanuts, or sunflower seeds. I can get within about 5 feet of it. Seems to be healthy, but it has been hanging around for three days. I've always wanted a tame crow, and I plan to keep working with it, but I wish I knew more about them.

JayZeeJay

Thanks for the Vistaprint link, Dagmar. I didn't know about magnetic car signs!

Alice, in person, I'd thought. I hadn't considered online but I'll think about that.

Fairly full day yesterday with lots of stairs so that's good. Fruit cake at the end of the day is not so good. I must try and find time to put the beans out in the garden.

Alice Not sure if this is a reputable source but the info is fairly straightforward and seems sensible. https://www.cuteness.com/blog/conten...make-good-pets

Dagmar

Jay~so sorry to hear about Luna. It's so hard to lose a pet.

Alice~I've always wanted to tame a raven or crow, too! I don't know much about the difference of the two but have heard that what we have down here in So Cal are ravens, not crows. I think crows are more vocal and can mimic other sounds and can even learn to speak.

So I'm about 10 pounds down on my diet and am focused on a slow descent from here. I won't be happy with the loss until I get back to my weight of 30 years ago and then from there I'll need another 15-20 down. Slow and steady so far and that's okay. I've decided I get one cheat meal a week, too. That was yesterday at my favorite Mexican restaurant--the cheat being a margarita and chips and salsa.

Allison, congrats on being 10 pounds down! Yep, slow and steady.

Dagmar, thanks for the raven link! I will have to put a box for roadkill in the back of my truck and collect any small things I spot! Today I fed it chicken and tried some grapes and blueberries. It sampled a blueberry but didn't like it.

It's finally getting hot here - over 100 today. Not easy to get my steps on days like this, because I'm not ready to walk until it is already too hot. I'll walk round and round inside my small house, then get more steps after dark.

JZJ - So sorry about your fur baby. My family lost our dog to a similar sudden progression when I was in college -- he had a limp, we thought it was arthritis, but it turned out to be bone cancer. We expected him to go another year or so before it got really bad, but it was only a few weeks later that he was in so much pain he could barely walk and we had to euthanize him. It's hard to lose a pet when they're very old and it's been coming a long time, but I think it's harder when you're not expecting it to be so soon.

Alice - It's been hot here too, though it finally cooled off yesterday and today. I'm not sure whether you live in/near a city vs rural, but have you considered mall walking? I know where I grew up in SoCal mall walking was a big thing so people could get exercise in air conditioning when it's too hot outside.

Allison - great job on the weight loss!

Silver - good luck with the new business!

Thanks for the cruise line advice, everyone. I need to put some more thought into it but maybe next year we'll try one. Family vacationing is way more expensive than vacationing as a couple and also a lot more work, so I'm not sure when our next big trip will be. Last year I'd been thinking about a cruise but we ended up road tripping in CA (we changed our vacation plans to make sure we had a chance to visit my parents since my dad's health had been failing -- turned out to be a good idea, since he got to see the kids before he passed a month later) which went really well. I'd like to find a vacation we could invite my mom to come along on. She went to Hawaii with my sister's family a few months ago. I invited her to join us on our vacation in Wisconsin this month but I think the location was not tempting enough for her to deal with the travel + boarding her dog (as opposed to Hawaii, where she's been wanting to go pretty much forever). I bet we could have her come to the Caribbean with us though since she's never been there, and DH and I had a good time last December when I got a free weekend trip to the Bahamas as an award at work.

Sorry for all the rambling! Anyway, my weight is up a bit today but I'm 99% sure it's because it's TOM and I'm retaining water like crazy. I've been getting good, consistent exercise, and I swapped out my previous standard breakfast of raisin bran for fruit, full-fat yogurt, and a little whole grain granola which saves me about 150 calories/day and is similarly filling. Had a busy weekend out with the kids going to a birthday party, car dealerships, and the children's museum. Anyone want to recommend me your favorite car? I currently have a Civic and a Forester and both will need replacing in the next year. I'm thinking of another sedan and then something with a third row (either a third-row SUV or a minivan, main goal is to not need to drive two cars when my mom comes to visit because she can't squeeze between two car seats in the back of our Forester and it's a really tight squeeze in the Civic). My main requirements are safety and reliability with comfort as #3. I don't care at all about appearance, engine, etc. as long as it gets me where I'm going. So far I've been considering the upcoming Subaru Ascent for the bigger car, or a Toyota Sienna or Kia Sedona van, and then for the sedan maybe a Camry, Accord, or Kia Optima. Though the Civic is kind of a tank, we've had enough annoying problems with it that I have less of a good opinion of Honda than I used to. Our experiences with Subaru and Toyota have been good in the past and Kia has a good reputation for reliability so I'm thinking probably those brands.