Struggling….

I’m an emotional eater. When I’m bored, I tend to eat. When I’m sad, I tend to eat. When annoyed, frustrated – you get the picture. I also ALWAYS can find excuses to make poor food choices when I travel. I thought I had last week covered because I told EVERYONE I was on weight watchers and I’d have to behave. I think I gained 4.5 maybe 5 pounds last week. That’s just dumb. And a setback for me. So, I went to a weight watchers meeting last week, but skipped weigh in. Worked my butt off (literally) this past week and weighed in tonight. I was still up 1 pound from my last weigh in. But, with renewed resolve. After losing 4+ pounds in 4.5 days – I know I’ll have a loss next week and I know I’ll hit my 10 pound weight goal.

On the topic of kidney donation – I’d like to welcome Margot as a reader of this blog. Margot is 62, lives in Santa Fe and is donating a kidney to a cousin on May 11th! It was great to meet her via phone today and hope that you all will pray for her and wish her and her cousin luck. I don’t know a lot of details, but the recipient is a young woman who lives in Greece and this will be her 2nd kidney. She also has a sister in failure and in need of a kidney. The sister is A- – so if any of you know someone considering donation, we can certainly get folks in touch with each other. Margot will be donating at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and has promised to update me post donation. I’m so excited for her- but that seems a bit wrong for someone who is preparing to undergo surgery. I guess I just know how much this has changed my life and know she’ll have no regrets.

And onto my soap box. Aggressive dogs should be on leash or not allowed in public. Gabby (pic above) was attacked by a pit bull this past Saturday. I’m not one to hate all pit bulls. I’ve met some perfectly nice ones. But this particular dog, Amber – attacked Gabby when I first got her 1 ½ years ago. Since that time, on our weekend walks – I avoided that dog and its’ owner at all costs. They would also watch out for me and get Amber on leash or change course. The other woman that walks with Amber’s owner has told me more than once that Amber has a short fuse and should not be off leash. Well – this past Saturday, while I saw their cars – I didn’t see the women or the dogs until it was too late. Gabby was attacked again. This time – it resulted in her needing 6 stitches, and she has multiple puncture wounds on her back legs and thighs. Brin was bit as well – but one bite and he just removed himself from the melee (so thankful for that!). Amber was euthanized. This didn’t have to happen. The owner knew the dog had aggressive issues – she had attacked her other dog last week – yet she still let her run off leash. When I called after leaving Gabby in the incredibly kind and capable hands of my vet office – my intent was to plead with the owner to start leashing and possibly muzzling Amber. I did not ask her to euthanize. It really breaks my heart because this could have been prevented. So if you have a dog that has aggressive tendencies or know someone who does – please encourage them to be responsible owners. Off box. (and epilogue – Gabby is doing well – she’s back to terrorizing Brin and dog toys that don’t have stuffing, but has decided she needs to sleep with her head on my pillow while in recovery.)