Christ is born!

Merry Christmas! All is well in Texas this Christmas. A nice calm, non-eventful Christmas. We had a fun family photo shoot before Christmas Eve service and ended up with some fun pics that I snapped when I was testing the light. And when I was testing out how to stand so my hips didn't look 50 inches wide, my daughter was busy photobombing me! :-D

Love my son's face in this one. He said he'll probably make it his profile pic on Facebook.

My son labeled this one "The jolliest a**holes this side of the nuthouse" ala Clark Griswold. :-D
I thought it looked more like a gang on the FBI's Most Wanted list!

I did get a few good shots of my beautiful family!

Checking in - 171.4

It's been a bit of a crazy week. I was able to visit my adorable great niece on Thursday and had fun seeing my sister and the baby's parents, too! Nora is an incredibly beautiful and sweet little baby!

Got home late that night and instead of being sensible and going straight to bed, stayed up even later playing with photos. Then very early in the morning, my son wakes me up with "I'm coughing up blood." Not good! It's been 3 1/2 years since we had a trip to the ER with that heart-stopping issue and I could have gone another 3 or so years without another! It slowed by the time we got across town to the military hospital where the CF team is who cares for him. They did an xray pretty quickly, then a CT with contrast. The CT showed some enlarged blood vessels near the airways and "broken glass" looking areas where there could have been other small bleeds, but no active bleeding artery, so that was good news, but they wanted to admit him to keep an eye on him overnight and make sure he didn't cough up more. It was a reasonable path, but Kendall made them promise to discharge him so he wouldn't be in the hospital over Christmas and they said "OK, as long as there is no more bleeding!" He agreed. We know how dangerous the lung bleeds are with CF, they are our least favorite thing!

Unfortunately, they don't have chair/beds where I can spend the night (which really annoys us because when we initially came to the clinic they assured us I would be able to stay with him during hospitalizations) so we stayed with him until about 9 last night. This morning we got there to discover he had a bad nosebleed that didn't seem to want to stop. He said he was sure it was because he hadn't done his two nasal rinses the night before, which he hasn't missed in ages, plus they didn't put a humidifier on the oxygen he needs at night. So with the dry hospital air, double whammy! Good thing he quickly told us he had a nosebleed, because if I would have seen the bloody tissues in the garbage before he told us it was from his nose, I probably would have had a bit of a panic attack. (Not really. I tend to remain calm in the midst of the crisis. It's when I'm alone and away from my son that I have my breakdown!) The doctors were a little reluctant on the discharge until they were sure the nosebleed was stopped. I was OK with that, it kind of concerned me, too, that it was taking so long to stop. We will definitely remember that for future reference if he needs to be hospitalized again. Well, guess we should say WHEN, it's pretty inevitable with him.

There was also some confusion about his mediport needle because he is always on IV meds at home, so he was already accessed when we went to the ER (that means he had a needle in the port, ready for IV meds) and the nurse doing the discharge thought that they had accessed him so that legally they had to take the needle out before we went home. All three of us kind of yelled at her when she said that. :-) The confusion was understandable since I'm sure they never have patients who are continually accessed. But Kendall has been on IV meds at home for 11 years now and I change his needle out every week. Most patients with a mediport have cancer and will only get accessed at the hospital or clinic when they go there for chemo. So whenever we go to the ER, they are always shocked when we tell them he is already accessed. The ER nurse was shocked at how calm Kendall was after coughing up a few ounces of blood. "Yeah, I have coughed up a LOT more than this before." Ah, that explains it! Yeah, we aren't your average ER patient! ;-)

Anyway, that was enough excitement for the month. You hear me, God? Let's be boring for the rest of the year, how 'bout it? Pretty please? Thanks!

Oh, I almost forgot the big thing I wanted to share. When I was getting ready to leave my nephew's house, my sister mentioned I was looking a little "gaunt." I sighed. Yeah, that seems to be the consensus. My nephew said he noticed my skinny jeans. I said "I'll take that!" :-) I told my daughter about it and she said, "Mom, the other day you walked in the room and really scared the $%@# out of me. You looked like a 70yo woman and I told Dad, you need to figure out what's wrong with Mom and FIX IT!" I laughed and said "WOW! 70! I don't think it's THAT bad!" She said it wasn't funny. When I got home so late from Austin and went in to tell hubby I was home (he was sleeping) he jumped, it scared him. I thought, well, no wonder! A gaunt, 70yo wilted flower, he probably thought it was the Grim Reaper come to take him! LOL It's KIND of funny! And I AM working on making myself eat and have gained a bit, so I'm getting there. I think I'm PMSing, too. :-D

Checking in - 168.2

Maintaining the weight. Had a hideous migraine again over the weekend, so that didn't sit well with forcing myself to eat since I had major nausea with it. Friday night we had a fun game night with some friends who came over. So I was glad to have one fun night before getting socked hard on Saturday! Sunday was kind of a migraine hangover day. I did force myself to eat eggs and toast. Friday all my lab results were on the doctor's office website and EVERYTHING came back normal. No iron deficiency, no gluten intolerance, no thyroid abnormalities. So I guess I'm just going to continue fueling my body and trying to get in some low-impact exercise and then will go back to see her and see if she recommends anything else. BP was WAY low on Sunday. 96/65 - guess a migraine hangover explains that after a day of being unable to eat. I did have toast in the evening.

Monday I had a great massage, yesterday got my hair done. And so it goes! Love my new haircut. She framed it around my face more.

This morning my new great-niece was born on the historic date of 12-12-12. Long, non-productive labor, so they had to do a c-section. But she and mama are doing great now! Nora Elizabeth was 7lb11oz - a small baby for our family. :-) Her daddy is 6'8" and mama is close to 6ft, too. So she could have been a lot bigger! We're all very excited. Can't wait to meet her.

New Doctor!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new doctor! She had a medical student with her and when I showed her my lab results from my old doc, said "Wow, these are interesting, come here and look at this!" Then explained that my body is NOT happy with me and my brain is crying out for fuel. Said I need to force myself to eat, protein when possible, add salt to everything (as per cardiologist and naturopath's advice, too!) and set a timer if I need reminding to eat every 2-3 hours. Told me I looked like a wilted flower. She also said that yoga might be good for me with gentle stretching, but to take it extra slow with the change in elevation because of my low bp. I told her that I also go to the chiropractor and love him and she said she's a big fan of what works and that she also goes to a chiropractor, so I loved hearing that. Plus, the fact that her immediate answer was NOT to put me on some kind of medication is a BIG BIG point in her favor.

When my old doctor was giving me the results of my lab work, she started to talk about redoing the blood work to check again, she said NOTHING about what I was eating or what kind of exercise I was getting or my habits. That's what drives me crazy about the typical MD. New doctor is also checking my thyroid and my gluten tolerance. Uh oh. :-) I had a fresh baked muffin at HEB before she tells me to go gluten free.

I told my husband - how many people are going to hate me - doctor's orders to FORCE myself to eat, setting a timer to remind myself if necessary. :-P

Bought me two new pairs of LONG size 10 Levi signature jeans today at Walmart. WOOHOO!! (I had been back in my 12s for a while there.) They are in the washer now. These are the ones I wore today. Shirt tucked in! Have been getting in some exercise at least 3 days a week, so it's an improvement over zero! Have an app't with my new doctor tomorrow. Taking blood work results with me from previous doc. My iron was low and I'm heading toward anemia, so she might want to start addressing that. Looking at iron deficiency symptoms explains almost EVERYTHING I've been experiencing lately!!!! Headaches, fatigue, rapid heartbeat, low blood pressure, dizziness, disturbed sleep. Hoping she's as good as hubby's friend says she is!

Updated photo - 169lbs

Feeling very brown in a monochromatic way today! :-D

Health Issues

Oct 19th I saw the PA at my docs office, a reminder why I hate MDs...OK, he's a PA, but close enough. Needed a new prescription for my Flonase so I had to go in plus they'd called and said the doc wanted me to get my B12 rechecked because it was high when I had my physical. PA looked at my nose, said it's swollen, more than just allergies, wondered if I might be starting on sinus infection, told him I didn't have green stuff coming out. On to blood work, checked my labs from before, said my liver levels were a little high, too but didn't think the high b12 would cause that so I asked what would. "If you are fat." I said, "OR??" (Since that obviously isn't my problem, ya jerk!_ "Or if you have chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C." I just stared at him and waited for him to say something else, wondering what the current sentence was running for assault. What a douche bag. Then he started babbling about other tests he wanted to run, checking my MMA. I asked what that was. Said it was to check to see if I needed any B. Tried for more information, he just repeated himself. Lord, have mercy! Took me back to one of techs and mentioned he needed to fix the door knob in the exam room, so they left me standing there while they went to find the tool to do that. I stood there for TEN MINUTES and he finally came back and said "Did you get taken care of?" I said "NO, she hasn't been back since you both left to get the tool to fix the door!" So he took me into the lab tech, he took my blood, then I got out of there. I was SOOOOO annoyed.

So, that definitely cemented the decision to change PCMs (primary care manager). I did like my doctor, she's around my age, so can relate to a lot of the perimenopausal stuff, but the location is a real pain to get to, 17 miles from the house through horrific traffic usually, and a friend of Ken's goes to a doctor who's office is just 7mi down the road and she sounds like someone who is open to naturopathic stuff, too. I dreaded making the call to switch, don't always have good luck with the Tricare people on the phone, but got a very nice young man and he was VERY helpful. And when I checked online 2 days later, the change had been made, so I made an appointment for next week. YAY!

Then I got a phone call Tuesday from the old doc's office wanting me to make an appt to go over lab results, so I figured I would do that and let her know why I'm switching since she had an appt available yesterday morning. She did apologize for the bad experience I had with her PA when I told her about that. And regarding my labs, she said my iron level is low, near anemia, so I'll be looking at that with my new doc. My B12 is still high, too. She also copied all of the labwork for me, so I'll be able to take that with me on Tuesday, so that will be helpful getting started. I've been having a rough time with depression lately and got hit hard with a bad migraine last week. First in quite a while. I'd been out of a few of my supplements so it might be because of that. I did notice that after the doc had told me to cut back on my B supplement was when my migraines increased over the summer, so I had bumped it back up because my naturopath and chiropractor both said that if your body has too much Vitamin B, it will just flush it out, it's not a big deal.

Really need to discuss the Topamax med. Started it to prevent the migraines. It's been working for the most part, but I am NOT fond of the side effects. Makes me clumsy, shaky, can't think of words and I have perception problems at night. I think it has increased the depression problems, too. Doc said cymbalta might be a better choice, so I'll discuss that with the new doctor.

I know mind, body and soul all work together so I've been doing some in-depth Bible study as well. Really good book by Kay Arthur: As Silver Refined has been such a comfort. I really have been unhappy about this move back to Texas, so I'm trying to be "content in all circumstances." It's a daily battle.

Took this photo last night while talking back and forth with friends on Facebook. I was lying on my back, the only way I'll take a pic of myself at the moment. If you saw a certain episode of Golden Girls, you'll know what I mean. Looking and feeling very old right now. LOL

Monday morning - 168.2

All time low on the scale since starting this journey, so that's nice.

Actually did some weight lifting and 20 minutes on the mini trampoline today. It's a start.

Checkin' in - 168.8

Right back down - yay! Not sure why, my eating yesterday was basically leftovers and started out with PIE! :-D The human body is a weird thing. This week I really hope to get in the habit of moving every day. The treadmill died, so I need to get out and walk, or do the mini-trampoline or recumbent bike inside.

Checking in - 170.2

I'd say that the day after Thanksgiving and two days after my period started, I'm totally OK with that small bump up in weight! :-) Got SLAMMED with a migraine on Tuesday while grocery shopping in the busyness of pre-Thanksgiving rush - not fun at all! Made it home, had the kids put the groceries away and went to bed. Made an app't with my chiropractor the next morning and the adjustment was wonderful! Was able to get my house cleaned, food fixed and enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with the four of us, plus my husband's brother and his wife, plus a friend of theirs. So much smaller crowd than last year. It was a nice day. Hubby grilled the turkey and it was moist and delicious! It's our favorite way to cook it now!

An introduction to my great niece

I probably haven't mentioned in my health blog who the gorgeous baby girl is in my profile photo, so I thought I'd post an updated pic of the baby girl and introduce her. This is my nephew's daughter Kaia. She just celebrated her 1st birthday on August 31st. She was born 8 weeks prematurely, so it was a little scary at first, but she's a fighter and as you can see, the happiest baby on earth! She has this radiant smile a good percentage of every waking hour and grins like that at the first glimpse of a face upon waking. I was taking care of her on this day, so I got to see the proof of that! My children show no interest in forming lifelong partnerships and making me a grandmother, so I have to enjoy my great nieces and nephews. Kaia is my first on my side of the family with another due next month because my OTHER nephew is going to be a daddy, too - yay! I have a few more on my husband's side, but they live further away.

Ideal body weight

Found this article about ideal body weight and it has some great points.

Your Idea Weight Isn't What You Think It Is

Now that I've taken time to figure out this new format, I'm getting used to it and kind of like it! I started a new blog with some political ranting and raving, so that's why my blogger name is showing up as Journo June instead of Mama Bear now. :-) My new blog is at JuneWritesRight - yep, I'm a Conservative. Enter at your own risk! ;-)

Also - I perused my reading list and found just 13 links that are still active or that haven't switched to some kind of selling site. Really? You keep your weight loss title for a blog and are using it to sell crap like insurance or other garbage? Not cool! Anyway, would love to connect again with other health-minded individuals.

Ugh - still sick. I start feeling better, then do too much. I never learn. Gonna spend the day in bed. I have water. I might make it to the kitchen eventually for some tea or something. Or I might not. Whatever. Trying to figure out blogger to start a new blog for my political ranting. :-) Be afraid, be very afraid. LOL

Does anyone know how to change your name in the "Posted by" section????? I've been looking for over a freaking HOUR! Taking me forever to figure this new stuff out. :-P I hate feeling stupid!

Checkin' in - 168.8 :-D

Woohoo!!!!! First time in I don't know HOW many years I've been in the 60's! So, yeah, doin' that happy feet dance for sure! Not sure if it will last. I have been sick with a cold and had no appetite. So once I start eating normally again, it might bump up a little again, but it has been really exciting to see that SIX number. YeeHAW!!!!

Checkin' in - 178.6

Oooh, I like being in the 70's. Wish I could keep it there for GOOD! It's been a weird month. Still battling health issues. Side effects on the med that is preventing migraines really suck. I'm clumsy, forgetful and have trouble with perception sometimes. Ugh. Ordered some wide-legged linen pants from Soft Surroundings and got them today. White, size M and they look pretty good! Mainly got them for a cruise we are taking in January, but it will be nice to have them for church, too, when I don't feel like wearing a skirt.

Yuck

So I guess it won't keep the format I use with paragraphs? ANNOYING! :-P I don't want to have to figure out html again.

Checkin' in - 181.0

Since I started my period yesterday, I'm totally cool with the small bump up with the weight. I've been craving all things salty and since I had major health issues last week with tanking blood pressure and high heart rate, I really upped my salt intake over the weekend. For five days in a row, my blood pressure was low 90's over low 60s and hr was 140s just walking around the house. We went out Friday and after dancing the cha-cha, my hr got up to 180! (My max is supposed to be 143 since I'm 52yo. So I've been journaling everything. Water intake, salt, supplements, food, blood pressure, heart rate, etc.

I started thinking back about stuff. A few months ago I had a physical with my primary care manager (pcm). She called with blood results and said everything looked good, but my vitamin B level looked high so told me to stop taking it (I told her I took several supplements as recommended by my naturopath.) I'd been taking 1 B complex capsule 3x daily so I cut it down to 1. Well, I realized that this might have corresponded with the timing of my increasing migraines. And after consulting with her over the migraines a few weeks ago, she'd started me on topamax, an anti-epileptic drug, to prevent migraines. That has made me dizzy, clumsy and I'm having MAJOR problems at night with perception when I'm driving. I hate the way it makes me feel. :-P (Friday afternoon I did call her and left a message about the bp, hr thing, asking if it might be related to the topamax. Got a message Saturday morning from her tech saying she recommended I drink 6 glasses of water a day. Gee, thanks. I drink about 5 20oz bottles of water a day.)

I also realized that over the past several weeks, I've been staying in bed longer, so delaying having anything to eat, therefore often only getting in 2 meals and only taking my supplements 2x a day instead of 3. A couple of them I'd adjusted, but I hadn't on my magnesium and vitamin C.

Soooooo, after thinking about all this and posting to my naturopath's facebook page and getting his advice (that 180 heart rate really kind of concerned me!) - he also mentioned increasing water, salt, magnesium and making sure I support adrenals and thyroid, all of which I'd noticed where I'd let up a little bit. So now I'm just making sure to keep up on all my supplements, making sure I get several small meals (my chiro also discovered a hiatal hernia - fun!) and carrying salted nuts with me. It's a constant battle! Keep fighting the good fight!

Checkin' in - 179.6

Ugh, I hate changes! And I guess it really shows that I haven't been here in way too long when it takes me a good half hour to figure out how to sign in! :-P OK, so I'm checking in. I like what the scale says today!!! Let's see if I can keep it below 180. Not feeling good right now. Have started a new medication to prevent migraines, which have been weekly for a while - so NOT fun! Now I've got that rushing in my ears again and I'm thinking it might be the new med. Went to my chiro on Friday and he did the adjustment on the jaw muscle, which helped, but I think I need to go back. Need to look around and get this new blogger format thing figured out. Last week I flew to Chicago to celebrate my younger brother's 50th b'day and we had a great time!

Checkin' in - 182.6

Up a bit from 2 weeks ago. Last week I was waaaaay up, not sure what was goin' on, so I just pushed through and kept on keepin' on. :-) Been getting some exercise in the pool, walked a LOT on Friday at Sea World. Hip and ankle have been bothering me. I think it's time to get rid of the Shape Ups. Wondering if that's what the issue is with my hips.

Checkin' in - 182.0

Totally shocked at this weight! After thoroughly enjoying a weekend at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs with lots of amazing food, I thought sure I'd be up several pounds. So I'm quite thrilled to see that number on the scale today. :-D We did do lots of walking, too so I guess that helped counter the great food.

The view from our room.

Our room at The Broadmoor.

The most wonderful thing I have EVER tasted in my 52 years! It's a Goat Cheese parfait with pistachio, golden beets, bowtie arugula. The goat cheese was the consistency of whipped cream. I was almost swooning! :-D

Checkin' in - 182.2

Up a bit. Forgot to check in because I had family visiting and then on Wed. left for my birthday trip to The Broadmoor in Colorado. Having an amazing time and dread the weigh-in next week! ;-) But having too much fun to care right now. It's sunny and gorgeous here and our room has a beautiful view of the lake and the mountains behind the Broadmoor. Today is our day to relax. Tomorrow we'll be driving up to Denver, visiting some friends there and then flying home late in the evening.

Checkin' in - 181.4

Down 1.6 since last week. Yay! And that's even with my cycle starting on Thursday. Really don't understand my body at all, but I will take the loss. I've had a headache a couple times, but they haven't been the severe migraines, so making progress. I think. Doctor called with blood results, everything normal, no allergies showed up from whatever they tested. Still need to do fasting bloodwork. Still need to get better with exercise. Walked on the treadmill a couple times.

Tuesday - ugh, ugh, ugh. Why does it have to get so warm and muggy so EARLY in the year????? Makes me feel so yuck and soooooo crabby. Time to break out the capris and tank tops!

Checkin' in - 183.0

And.......I'm back to where I started out the first week of February. :-P At least I didn't gain. Had a good massage on Thursday and a wonderful chiro adjustment yesterday. Will be getting another massage this Friday. It's been a week since my last migraine.

Headaches

Chuck Norris posted some columns regarding migraines that have VERY good information in them! I look forward to reading Part 4.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

And here's an awesome article from Prevention Magazine: 100 Easy Ways to Lose Weight (Actually their list only goes to 84, so not sure what I'm missing!) :-)

Looking for answers

Went to the doctor yesterday to talk about my migraines. She's checking me for allergic reactions. She said she lived here for a while, then moved away, then came back and the second time living here started having lots of allergy issues. She said our bodies can adapt to the allergens the first time we live here, then when we come back, we no longer have the immunities and our bodies can freak out and react more. Something like that, anyway. So we'll see what comes from that. She also refilled the one med that does work for me to stop a migraine, so I have a stockpile of that on hand. Am consulting with my naturopath, too. Today - it's massage time! I think I'm going to add a hot towel treatment.

Proud to say that yesterday, before leaving for my app't at 8:30am, I actually got a 30 minute walk in on the treadmill. For some of you that may not seem like a big deal, but since I'm not a morning person, it was pretty epic for me! :-)

Checkin' in - 183.0

Down .4 from last week. Better than nothing. Had a bad migraine on Saturday. I've really had very little appetite lately, so I don't think I'm eating enough. Feeling all around cruddy is getting old. Blah blah blah.

Edit later in the day: have consumed an entire sleeve of Thin Mints over the hours of this day. Completely emotional eating. Sometimes, ya just can't stop yourself! And this is why I never PURCHASED any cookies. My husband brought them home. :-P

Edit on Wednesday - went to Bible study yesterday morning and while there, a stabbing pain behind my eyeball started. Did a quick grocery run for a few necessities (including a 100cal pack of cookies - crap food, but a better choice than a sleeve of TMs!) When I got home, I was completely WIPED and dozed on the couch all afternoon. Since there were fuzzy white things floating in the air when I was out and about, I'm thinking these headaches are allergy related.

Checkin' in - 183.4

Up from my low, but down from as high as it got over the weekend. Not sure what was going on, I wasn't THAT bad! :-) So yesterday I had a raw food day of fruits and veggies and lots of water. Today I walked for 30min as soon as I got up, had fruit for breakfast, then for lunch ate my leftover 1/2 sandwich from Luther's burger place. Made myself from Sassy water, too. (From the Flat Belly Diet.) Tonight I just had some cereal. Nothing else sounds good.

Shhhhhhhhh

We're just not going to talk about this past week. (Son had surgery on Friday, started my period. Ugh. At least the surgery went well with no complications!) Making a new start for this week. Did lots of dancing with my honey last night. My favorite kind of cardio! :-D

Today - 181.8

Doin' the happy dance! Oh, yeah! SIX days of activity last week and down 2lbs. Uh huh, uh huh!!

Here's a couple more of my quilt hangings, Cammy! :-D The bottom row is pockets on this wall hanging.

This one actually took me over 10 years to make throughout our many moves around the world.

February 4 - 183.0

Had to post this today in celebration! This is the lowest weight I have had since May of 2010!!! That was before I hurt my hip and ended up going to physical therapy for that for several months! I want to continue this downward progression and would love to reach goal before we visit Colorado, but not sure I can lose that much that quickly. I like taking it slow so it's sustainable. The quick fixes are never beneficial long-term!

Realized I hadn't posted photos of my decorated bedroom. Looks just awesome and such a tranquil place!

Love having the door straight out onto the deck out back - by the pool and hot tub. ;-)

Our little bay window area in the master br.

Healthy You Update 183.8

Up a bit from last week. I feel the PMSing comin' on. Starting to crave all things salty (and mini powdered sugar donuts!) :-) Did get 5 days of exercise in last week, so I'm definitely happy about that. Need to get some more sleep! I've really felt wiped out lately. Might help if I didn't stay up so late. Will try to work on that this week.

A review of past posts

Looking back over my journey, I realized how very little blogging I did in 2011. I guess it all started when I started having so many health issues with low blood pressure and high heart rate back in late 2009. Saw a cardiologist, who was an arrogant a** that ridiculed anything naturopathic or chiro related, so after following his advice for a while and seeing no improvement, I went off the meds he'd prescribed. One was a beta blocker that people take who have high blood pressure, but mine was too LOW, and the other was basically caffeine, which makes no sense to me when my heart rate was too HIGH! Huh?? I went to a naturopath and got tested for nutritional deficiencies and started taking the supplements he recommended and have finally seen improvement! So I'm sticking with that regimen for now! Still having some dizziness once in a while, but taking it slow usually helps. Funny thing is, the naturopath said the same thing as the cardiologist when it came to sodium! They both said - you need to add salt to everything! And when I get dizzy, I put some sea salt in my water or eat something salty. AND, since taking the supplements, I haven't had to get any cysts aspirated in my breasts! So I've definitely seen improvement with some of my long-running problems. So for anyone who was with me way back then, that's the long story made very short. :-D

Healthy You Check In - 183.4

Down 2.8lbs this week. Had four days of activity last week, much better than zero the week before! :-) Started the week out well with 30 minutes on the treadmill yesterday. Unfortunately, after the move, the display isn't working. It turns on, but just says zero so doesn't track time or speed. :-P

Going back to the Broadmoor

Can't wait to go back to Colorado and celebrate my birthday at The Broadmoor! If you are wondering why I love it so much, check out THIS post from September 2009! Or THIS one from the family blog, and this one from this blog from our New Year's celebration there Dec 2009. :-)

Interesting day

Did 20 minutes on my stationary bike (with a kitty climbing my chest and nuzzling my neck the whole time.) Then drew a hot bath. Read for 20-30min in bath, when I got out I felt a little light-headed, checked my heart rate and it was up to 180. BP had also tanked. Whoa. Took it slow, put some salt in my water bottle, went to my chiro app't. Talked with him about my dizzy spell on Sunday (and this morning) and he said the high cedar levels affect some people that way. So I'm wondering if that's the issue. He also said the same thing my naturopath says about adrendals with the low bp and high heart rate. After a great adjustment, went to get a 90min massage. Feeling good! :-D

Checkin' in - 186.2

It's been a weird week. Weight was all over the place. Doin' the perimenopause thing. Had a couple of cycles that were 2 months apart, then 3 weeks after the last one, got it again. (So fun PMSing every two weeks.) :-P My cravings are for salty stuff, which I need for my low blood pressure. Woke up Sunday morning and the room was spinning. Hadn't been drinking the night before either! :-) Even laying down, everything was spinning. We had tile put in the master bath on Friday, so my husband wondered if it was the fumes.

Today's weight is finally down and I'll take it! :-) 4lbs since last week.

Figured I would add a photo of my newly painted bedroom (will get stuff up on walls this week.) We had a water leak in the master closet over Christmas. The plumbers put 4 holes in the walls looking for it and getting it fixed. So insurance paid for repair, painting and flooring. WOOHOO!



I was thrilled to get the carpet out of the bathroom and replaced with tile. I hate having carpet around the toilet! We have enough tile leftover to take out the carpet in the bathroom on the kids' side of the house, too.

Another New Year - 190.2

We celebrated my daughter's 24th bday at The Magic Time Machine. She wanted us all to dress in costume, so I borrowed one of her Renaissance costumes. We had such a great time! This restaurant has servers dressed in costumes and they all loved it that we were, too. Kisa was Vash the Stampede from Trigun - a Japanese anime series. Our server, Zorro, recognized her, but most of the others asked her who she was, one asking if she was Michael Jackson! We did the Roman Orgy from the menu. Brisket, chicken, potatoes, carrots, various fruits and bread. It was actually pretty healthy food with no heavy sauces.

I've been pretty much maintaining my weight since Thanksgiving. I was sick the week between Christmas and New Year's and basically spent the whole week in bed, eating very little. I lost 4lbs, but gained it back when I started eating normally again. Trying to get back into the exercise habit. My sister started a group on Facebook for making healthy choices and honoring God. So I've enjoyed that group for encouragement and accountability.