Overnight Changes

It rained buckets yesterday. Local news reports that although we only got about an inch and a half, parts of southern Westchester got over 4 inches. That's a lot of rain! Temps also never rose above 64F, which is why it's so surprising when I take the dog out this morning to damp, humid warmth. It's already 68F at 7 am, and promises to hit just shy of 80 by this afternoon. Good thing I didn't put all my fans away yet. The humidity is palpable and unpleasant. Suddenly my flannel shirt is too warm. Ugh. I drive my son to school and go to the gym.

Well, at least both passenger tires are on the same plane

Someone is definitely having a worse morning than me. I don't even know if they know that something's amiss. I mean, it's not like the driver got wedged between other cars or anything... I'm still sleep-deprived and haven't recovered from the virtual all-nighter I pulled Saturday night just to make a deadline that turned out to be an illusion. But I don't want to lose my spot in the BootCamp, since people who don't shape up will be "booted off the island." There's no charge for this program, but they do expect you put in about 30 hours a week of writing, research and reading. And the payoff? There's the potential for a job. If not, there's also a lot of valid writing samples you will have created in the quest for a paying writing gig. (Sadly, as much as I enjoy writing this blog, it's not going to pay my bills. And I worry about bills all the time.)

Admittedly, part of the stress comes from watching my old dog decline. He's decided he's not going to eat anything that smells vaguely of medicine. So no Proin, or Metacam if I want him to eat anything at all. Mostly he sleeps. He also needs to go out to pee a good 8-10 times a day when he's not sleeping. I can get him to eat if I hand-feed him scrambled eggs on English muffins. Even chicken gizzards and hearts boiled in chicken stock and rice didn't interest him today, although he scarfed it down yesterday. He gets "bored" so I have to rotate different foods. But it's hard to discern between boredom, and perhaps nausea.

Old pup dozing 

He drinks a lot of water. which is better than not drinking. However, yogurt no longer interests him, not even when proffered on my fingers. Of course, he's very interested in foods that smell good (greasy), whether he can have them or not. So freshly cooked foods can whet his appetite. I have 7 washable canine male wraps that I wash out before tossing into the laundry. (And I run laundry two to three times a day lately.) Some work better than others due to sizing and fastening issues since I bought 3 different brands. He's become quite a stinky dog, like any elder with incontinence. I've thought about taking him to the groomers for a much needed bath, but that would be too stressful on both of us. He can't stand for long periods of time, especially not on slick surfaces. And he's just going to get stinky as soon as he falls asleep. Or eats, because he dribbles pee when he eats. Hence the washable "diapers", but at least he's not pooping in the house...

I do my lazy 30 minutes on the recumbent bike while reading FlipBoard and The Skimm on my phone. I must be getting better at this since my HR first blips at 50, then 99. That's about 59% of my theoretical maximum heart rate, and pretty damn lazy. I'm not sweaty but my face feels flush. Weird. There's no way my doc can say I'm doing anything strenuous. One more week and then I'll probably kick it up a notch... maybe hit the treadmill and get my HR up to 122? Even though that's 73% on paper, it's not even close to what I consider moderate exercise. I'm going to be soooo out of shape by the time I can exercise like a real gym rat again. Sigh...

Boring Wednesday
30 min recumbent bike
Calories 115
Miles 2.50
HR 99