For serious.

So we all know about my debilitating autoimmune disease. 

It drains on my energy, makes me bruise like a peach and inhibits my extracurricular activities.  It's a real bitch.

Speaking of bitches, you all know about my beloved dogs, Bella and Molly.

Turns out my Molly is sick... with a dibilitating auto-immune disease.

My immune system destroys my platelets. Molly's disease, Hemolytic Anemia, destroys her red blood cells.

She's weak, exhausted, her gums and tongue, inner ear and eye tissues are white instead of pink.  Her red blood cells were 1 million, they're supposed to be 6 million.

When I got diagnosed my platelets were 300, they're supposed to be 3 million.

Like mother, like daughter.

So, Molly is on steroids (which is also the recommended treatment for me, I refuse and try alternative means) if the steroids don't help she'll need a blood transfusion and possibly a splenectomy. 

It's still touch and go, her disease has a 40% mortality rate, so we're watching and waiting and babying the baby.

She's digging her scrambled egg dinners.

Musings from Today's Walk

The girls and I hit the park for our jog tonight.  They're getting a bit better at it.  Bella made it 3/4 around the track before she decided she wanted to stop and sit down.  Molly just kept running and letting the leash pull her back. 

Kind of like Mike Meyers in that one SNL skit with Nicole Kidman where she gives him chocolate and he calls her the Devil.

Anyway, my goal tonight was to not sing aloud during the jog. So armed with my Pandora set to a Madonna station we set off.  Vogue popped up first and I zipped my lips and took off.  Then as the song ended I realized while I hadn't been singing along, but I'd been voguing my ass around the trail.  I suppose I should be glad Like a Virgin didn't pop up or I'd have dropped to the concrete and started writhing around.

Chagrined I stopped dancing and we finished the trail... and then I decided to snap some pics every time Bella needed a break (she's quite lazy.)

So here you go:

The girls want to go opposite ways home.  They also think every driveway is ours.

 If my dogs crapped in other yards I'd hope it was this one.



I don't know who Mr. Godzilla is... but I hope he's not missing his street mix.

Hitting the trail...

I mentioned earlier I signed up for a 6k leg of the Route 66 marathon... the last time I ran any distance at all it was about a mile and a half on the treadmill at my gym.

So I decided to jump back into the training... and make my dogs go along. If you've ever met my Bella Boo you know she needs to lose about 5 pounds.

So we set off.

That's my view of furry dog butts.  The jog started out fine, we hit the park down the street from my house and while they trotted with me I jogged around the trail.  But Bella only wanted to do that for a bout 5 minutes.  then she wanted to sit down and wait for me to carry her home.  I did not agree.

So I forced her along and we went about the entire trail one time and headed back to the house.  Now my genius babies decided that every driveway we passed must be their house and they were finally free from the horrible-ness of the evil walk and their slave driving mother.

Eventually we did get home and they got to recuperate in their own ways.  Bella likes to collapse on the bathroom floor and pant until she cools off.

Molly hides under the bed and hopes we all leave her alone until she's ready to take on the world again.

My recuperation?

I got on the treadmill and got a real run in after those lazy bitches cut my first run short.

This time I watched Dancing with the Stars on mute (Brooke Burke is cute, but should not be allowed to talk. At. All.)

I noticed some interesting things, like did you know that the older Florence Henderson gets the more she looks like Alan Alda?

Or that Michael Bolton can't dance to save his life? 

I also decided that I'm going to wear a cool headscarf like Brandy, she looks like laidback hippie cool.. I'll look like Rhoda Morgenstern... but I'm okay with that.

Running Coach

Despite my near death experience yesterday attempting 20 minute intervals I decided to try it again today. The assumption being if I'd run 20 minutes already it'd be easier to do it again.

So I gathered up little Molly Moo and plopped her on the guest room bed with a chew toy while I hopped on the treadmill. Yesterday she attempted to climb under the treadmill while I was running so I'm trying to avoid skinning her.

Molly's on the bed and I turn the treadmill on and start my walking warm up and she is instantly mesmerized.

It's quite the opposite of Bella's frustration with me on the treadmill which I documented here:


Instead Molly watched me walk and then start running, her head cocked to the side curiously. Looking at my feet and then up to my face.

As I did yesterday I took a brief walking break to stretch my angry calves. I was off the treadmill probably about 30 seconds total. Molly would have none of it, as soon as my feet were off that motorized track she started barking her head off.

I told her to be quiet and started running again, noting her constant amazement at the treadmill.

So I tested her and hopped off again, just stepping onto the side panels of the treadmill and again the yapping began.

Apparently my 3 pound shih tzu is going to be my drill sergeant keeping my ass on the treadmill at all times.

Masochism

Apparently I am a masochist.

I see no other reason that after the pain of yesterday's run I did it again tonight. For some reason I felt like my body needed to prove to me that I am not fit and still need work.

Again, I finished the damn intervals... but my calves were not happy. I'm sure tomorrow I won't be able to walk, but at least I got in a good sweat.

Now I'm back to corralling the girls, they're getting along better, unless Molly looks at Bella wrong, then Bella reserves the right to try and kill Molly.

I bought the largest spray bottle I could find to keep both girls in check. Molly doesn't quite get why I'm spraying her, just keeps looking around for where the water came from.

Maybe I should throw them on the treadmill for punishment when they can't get along. I know that'd be a big deterrent to my bad behavior.

New Mum...

So today's scheduled run did not happen. You see I gained another daughter yesterday afternoon.

Molly Moo... to go with my first born Bella Boo. Here's the girls passed out last night:



But, all is not quiet on the western front... if Bella is not closely watched she gets total Alpha and tries to pin the 3 and a half pound puppy under her 20 pound body. So I'm spending today wrangling between the girls and doing homework.

Will be running in the AM, week 5 day 2... and checking the schedule to see when I can squeeze in a class at the gym between work and puppy wrangling. We'll see.

But seriously aren't my girls cute?