Yesterday

Being a nursemaid at home to a tonsillectomy patient is not easy.  Well, it’s easy, but mentally and physically it’s so flipping boring!!!  Yesterday I woke up and ran a few errands for my people then I came home and waited on the girl.  I brought her a variety of frozen things to soothe her tummy and throat while stimulating my mind with intellectual masterpieces like the Twilight movie series.😳  Hannah Montana marathons. 😧  Endless episodes of Gilmore Girls. 👍 While I can get behind an episode or two of the Gilmore Girls, I’m just not a sit-around-and-watch-tons-of-TV kind of girl anymore and I was going crazy!  So what did I do?  I ate a lot of Chex Mix and paid the price by feeling like garbage for the rest of the day.  I started wondering if I was actually sick, too, and then I looked at my diet and exercise habits since we started dealing with the daughter and dog drama.*  It has not been good.  I’ve been eating carbs and cheese with the occasional apple or orange thrown in to help with the guilt.  On top of that, I haven’t worked out in several days!  I’ve been getting my 10,000 steps in, but with all the trauma at my house I decided to forgive my commitment to working out until the storm passes.  However, after feeling like garbage yesterday I knew I needed to make a change.  First, I cooked up a pile of carrots, Brussels and broccoli to go with my chik last night.  Then I promised myself that I would run today.  I realized that running, or working out somehow, helps me to feel sane in the face of such adversity.

  
I feel so much better today.  I woke up, ate my usual breakfast, took Jude to school, medicated and fed all of my people (Bradley is ALSO sick and on antibiotics, now- when it rains it pours, I tell ya), made sure they were settled and tucked in, distracted by TV, and I went out for a run.  It was only supposed to be a 1.5 miler, just to get my blood pumping, but isn’t that funny how once you’re going that you find all these little ways to add 1/4 of a mile by running up this road or tracing through that cul-de-sac?  I certainly do.  And I was pleased as punch to be running consistently at a sub 11 minute mile pace!  When I came home, I was all too happy to sit down and watch the first installment of part four in the Twilight saga: Breaking Dawn.  😱  Edward and Bella are married now!  Squee!  It’s amazing what good food and physical activity will do for my spirit and bad vampire movie tolerance.  I need to remember this for the next time the going gets tough.  I need to take time off from worrying about my health, if I need it.  But sometimes I need to run, too.  Need.  And I always need to eat my vegetables.  Always.

In other news…  I follow a gal on Instagram (Hi Stacia!) who has monthly accountability groups.  This idea intrigued me greatly.  Saying it out loud makes it real.  Saying it out loud and getting support from a group of like minded people can be powerful, motivating and inspiring.  Surrounding yourself with people who have goals similar to yours can make you achieve better success.  I decided to create an accountability group on Facebook that will last until the end of the school year.  I just wanted it to motivate healthy, established habits as I head into summer.  I invited my Facebook community, but I wanted to invite you, too.  What will happen there?  It will be a safe, positive place where you can share your goals, brag about your accomplishments and ask for support!  I’m pretty excited!  If you’re interested in joining, please message me on Facebook through my Tamara Shazam page and I’ll add you to the secret group!  (Ooh-secret and exclusive- now you really want to!  And remember: if it’s not your jam you can leave at any time without hurting anyone’s feelings. 😉)  

{This was last fall at the kid’s school under the mighty oaks…  Martha has always loved to roll in the leaves, snow and grass.❤️}

*Martha is still with us.  The day after I posted about her not eating and me having to adult, she must have felt all of the kindness directed at her and she actually ate some ham.  Only half a pound, but it felt like her miracle.  The continued sunshine that allowed her to enjoy a few more days of laying in the grass also felt like her miracle.  I’m incredibly grateful for the extra time and summery days we’ve been granted with my dear pup.  I thank you all for your thoughts, your prayers, your positive vibes, your stories, your empathy…  Thank you for your kindness.  Tomorrow we are planing to take her to vet’s to say goodbye.   She hasn’t eaten anything more since her ham infused rally for life and has stopped getting up or wagging her tail when we come near her.  She just looks at us with her tired, watery, sad eyes.  I’ve been carrying her in and out of the house and she’s just a little 50 pound wash rag laying in the yard right now…  I think this is finally our time to say goodbye.