"...In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or
brilliance. They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not."

~ Anonymous
(taken from Matt Erbele's, It Takes Time to Get Good)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

For lack of something better to say...

I have been at a bit of a loss for words as of late. I am not sure what to attribute that to, but the shitstorm of the last 2 years certainly has not helped. I have wanted to update anyone that cares, or anyone that does not care, but has nothing better to do than read my ramblings, where I have been lo these last 2 months (it has been pretty boring in RBR land, so I thought I would jazz it up with a dramatic interjection. And yes, I had to look up what part of speech 'lo' qualified as because I know almost no one that knows that. )

Life without Lucy

It has been even more difficult than I anticipated. I knew it would be awful and a huge void in our lives. I knew that the loss of her presence would be crushing. I just did not think I would fucking fall apart, but this is not about that.

This is about poor Lola having to step up into some pretty big shoes and, really, the little shit has fallen short on many fronts. (Didn't see that one coming, did ya? You thought ol' RBR had gone soft on you)

 She is, however, A-DOR-ABLE!

Areas Ms Lola is just not cutting the mustard:

1. Trail dog:  We have given up the ghost. She hates it. She is not suited for it and I am tired of other hikers saying, "Gosh. She looks really unhappy." She is more a 'go to the park twice a day, nap on the couch in between' dog.
Please try to ignore 1. the huge, hideous, 1984, 'dusty rose' sectional couch my parents gave me in 1995 when they could no longer stand it and  2. the fact that I am wearing frog pjs in what is clearly broad daylight.

2. Traveling dog:  This role is work in progress and while she loves to be new places, it is the actual trip in the car that is the sticking point. We have even purchased dog specific car seats for her that cost almost as much as the cars they are placed in, so that she can see out the windows.  Nevertheless, she whines, pants, and jumps out of her doggie car seat which, sadly, she is attached to, so she ends up pinned next to it by her harness, looking bug eyed, tortured, and like an ideal candidate for the next Sarah McLachlan SPCA video.

 Obviously not in the car, but sporting her very best "Save me, Sarah McLachlan" face.

Areas where Ms. Lola has been able to shine, some not so surprising and others downright shocking: 

1.  Fashionista: I do not have all of her outfits photographed (My photographer is opposed to the dressing of our dog and is passive-agressively refusing to photograph her in her duds. Hmpf!) but here are a few highlights: 

Her first sundress.

The little ruffled skirt flounces when she trots at the park. To Die. For. Cute.

One of her three hoodies. Salmon looks a little disapproving. He is a judgmental little fucker.

2.. Hangin' with the girls at the 'bucks: She is all about getting gussied up and soaking up the small dog love at the local Starbucks. 

She is a hit at Starbucks. 

3. Agility: Yes, you read that right. I signed my prissy little dog up for agility class. It is great for building confidence in shy dogs. She went to her first class last night. When we arrived she was the smallest dog BY FAR. Ms. Lola was a tad concerned and frankly so was I. I figured we would gut out one class and if she hated it we would not subject her to the terror of the wild ass dogs that are good at agility, but I sure as shit would not want living in my house.

Not so sure about this

But after we got started she was a total rockstar! She was the best at circle running and the teeter and we even got a really shitty cell phone picture of her jumping! 

She even went over it at the top rung *smug grin*


Marathon Training

Believe it or not I have been running. I did a 20 miler with TNT last weekend and I am getting ready to head to Portland on October 8th! This will not be a fast marathon, but I know I can pretty comfortably finish it. It feels good to be doing distance again, but my consistency is not really where I would like it. Seems like a meager update for a "running" blog, but there you have it.

Weight Watchers

Or as I like to call it my weekly humiliation. Eddy is, as one would have guessed, a total fucking ROCKSTAR at losing weight. I try to be gracious about it, but I tell you it makes me think very bad, very prosecutable thoughts when I step on the scale after he has lost 3 pounds in a week and I have gained after running 26 miles that week and eating my 29 measly ass points.

He has lost 23 pounds.

I have lost 9.6 pounds.

He looks amazing (granted that is a 'win' for me too, but focus people, I am on a rant here.)

I look the same.

I decided to be 100% honest about my weekly trials and tribulations of WW in this graph of my actual weight loss to date. I do this because: 1. I want to give hope to women in their 30's and above that are trying to lose weight and are struggling with the ups and downs of the scale, both deserved and not and 2. I am avoiding grading and an excel spreadsheet is an excellent way to do that. We always hear the end result and say, "wow, that is so great! Why can't I do that?"

What is inspired me to do this was a woman that talked about it taking her 2 years to lose 25 pounds and that she has kept it off for 10 years now. People may be discouraged by that, but as a chronic yo-yo dieter for over 20 years now it sounded, well,  real. I have NEVER maintained a weight. I always in the process of losing or gaining.  I am not trying to regain some mythical bikini body, I just want to fit in my clothes, be comfortable in my own skin, and stay healthy. So here it is. This annotated graph represents the last 12 weeks and  $132 on WW:




13 comments:

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Dogs have their own personalities, too. You can't turn Lola into Lucy. But you can enjoy her for who she is.

Sushi, our previous Sheltie, was FAR less neurotic than Morgan. (Also, being female, she lacked three-thirds of male genitalia, whereas Morgan merely lacks two-thirds; he had all three thirds when we got him, but we changed that irrevocably, which may explain why he's still a bit nervous and resentful around us.)

Sushi LOVED walks. Morgan hates them. When you picked Sushi up from the kennel after a vacation, she jumped all over you, unable to contain her glee at seeing you. Morgan's all, "Who the fuck is you and what the fuck is you to me?" when you get him.

Sushi rarely had accidents. Morgan, now SEVEN years old, awoke me this morning at 3:30 with his pacing, and he was pacing because he knew he was in trouble for having just shit on our bedroom's hardwood floors.

(I was able to clean it up before the stink awoke Teh 'Bride because as a spouse I am full of awe, aka, AWESOME!1!)

Congrats on the weight loss. Yours represents the same percentage loss as your spouse's ... assuming Mr. RBR is 2.5 times larger than you. In related news, congrats on having a husband who is 17 feet tall. If the rest of his body is at all in proportion to THAT, it's a wonder you can walk at all, much less run. (<--Thus do I answer the burning question, "Is G still an utter PIG?" For lo! I still AM. Hahahahahahaha!)

Diana said...

Each of my cats that I've lost over the years still have their own special little place in my heart. The ones I have now I truly love 'em and their neurotic ways! Your comment about the look on Salmon's face was "dead on"....I almost lost my dt dew over reading that one! Of course that's what the cat was thinking!
In regards to the weight thing....first off congrats on dropping the 9+lbs. Any weight off is great!
I'm in the last 6 months of my 40's....let me tell ya about weight gain....even when I workout like a fucking maniac, it still attaches it's ugliness to my frame like a frickin' barnacle to the bottom of a boat. By new motto for the rest of my life is going to be this.....
"by not controlling the uncontrollable, we get what we thought we'd get if we were in control"
this fits me because Menopause is something that is completely un-fucking controllable.

Hang tough-you make us all laugh, so please don't ever think RBR has nothing to blog about.

Love ya blogger buddy!

IronSnoopy said...

Always love your posts. :-)

I was gonna say that Lola looks like she'd fit right in at the Mall, too. You should get one of those doggy purses to take her in. You'll become very popular. Very. (And she is ADORABLE!).

Congrats on marathon training! I love how you casually toss that nugget in there.

Weight loss. Boo. It's maddening. I mean, the scale is going downwards, so that's good. Do you ever lift weights? I think that's the secret sauce to losing weight. Not a lot - just 2 sessions, 30 mins. each/week. Last year: I lifted and lost weight easily. This year: no weights, stuck at the same spot on the dial. Grrrr. I'm lifting, starting today. :-)

Nice to see you!

Christi said...

I am glad to hear from you again. I really enjoy reading your posts.

Congrats on the marathon training! And good luck with the weight loss. Right now I am losing my battle. I have gained about 15lbs. YUCK!

Carolina John said...

I'm glad you're still getting the long runs in! Have fun up in Portland, it's usually a good race to be slow in.

I just put up a popular post about weight loss. Your lbs will drop after the marathon. Have faith.

SteveQ said...

A friend of mine wouldn't even talk about his dog for a year after Tank died and he got a replacement (both black lab trained hunting dogs), Diesel. It took another year for him to accept that there was no comparing them (Tank being the most amazingly well-trained dog I've ever encountered and Diesel one of the dumbest). So I'd say you're a year ahead of schedule.

You'll be glad to know my latest love interest looks nothing like Olive Oyl. People keep saying, "But, Steve, she looks so normal!" I'm not sure what to make of that, yet.

Sabrina Hayes said...

Just found your site. It's irreverent and funny as hell!!! Love it!

Ewa said...

Lola is amazingly cute. She is a princess, isn't she?
As for maintaining weight? Oh, boy, that is tough. I lost a ton of weight some years ago. It was a lot easier than keeping it off. Once the pounds are off, there is less motivation, no goal in site, it is hard. Still, I am managing somehow.
Enjoy your 9#. Men seem to lose weight faster, lucky devils, so don't compare your weight loss to that of a guy.

doctorval said...

I missed you.

Jo Lynn said...

I miss you, you know. Glad to see you are still alive. ;)

Lindsay said...

I'm honesty surprised that you put Lola in dog clothes. What will she be for Halloween?

I enjoyed your spreadsheet graph. Maybe I can start putting commentary like that on the ones my boss wants me to make.

Aka Alice said...

Lola is absolutely adorable and when my kids leave me for college and lives of their own, I really, truly want her to come live with me. I promise to never, ever take her on trail runs (mostly because I would look as unhappy as she does if I ever did one myself).

Can't believe you're marathon training. You rock. TNT huh? Are you doing Nike? I'll be there w/the herd.

Calyx Meredith said...

I'm so sorry about Lucy. Your pictures of Lola are darling. And ... the whole weight loss thing. You are brave and wonderful to share your graph and your thoughts. Two things - there is a fantastic book called the Core Balance Diet written by a woman ob/gyn who has some interesting things to say/teach about women/aging/stress/hormonal flux and their effect on weight loss. I think it would dovetail with WW - and you can get the book on amazon for like $6. Thing two is that I think you are totally awesome - at any (and every) weight. :)