Catch-up Post

I promise I’m still here and I’m still running. I’ve just been busy doing tons of other things as well! After my last post of the race recap back in March, I got a cold and didn’t do much of anything, let alone running, for a couple weeks. I got back into it and have since then done my first half marathon of the year. I have a race recap for you later, but right now, a post of catch-up.

First and foremost, here is an update on our lab Maverick. He had ACL surgery 4 months ago (you can check out the post-surgery post HERE). We had 8 weeks of basically no activity at all (aside from walking outside to do his business). He had to stay on our main level in our house. He couldn’t go upstairs, nor could he go down to the basement. There is a door to our basement, so that was easy keeping him off those stairs. We used a baby gate for the stairs going to our 3rd level. This was a baby gate I used when my Shih-Tzu was a puppy to keep him corralled in the kitchen. This is also the same baby gate my husband said we should get rid of when we moved because we wouldn’t need it for anything. Yet another situation where I was right! Just kidding! If we weren’t home or weren’t able to watch him, he stayed in his kennel. Otherwise, he chilled on his massive pillow on the floor.

After 8 weeks was finished, we started physical therapy. The first 3 weeks was walking him slowly short distances and increasing the distance when we felt he was comfortable enough to go more. He couldn’t jog or run, and was on a tight leash right beside us. It made him jealous that his brother, Bode, could run ahead of us, but Maverick did exceptional. The next 3 weeks, we kept walking him, but he could jog or go as far as the leash would let him. This helped him get front, back and sideways movements in helping his knee to heal and gain strength. The next 2 weeks, we still went on walks, just longer ones, and he also got to spend time running around in the yard off the leash.

I took him to his final appt last Friday and the vet was amazed at how well he had progressed. For one thing, the major accomplishment was getting him to lose 15 pounds! He is now 74 pounds and the vet is pleased at where he’s at. Being smaller will give his joints relief, so that he doesn’t injure that knee (or the others) again! He said his range of motion is good, his knee feels secure and all around, he is healing great! He can resume normal activity and can use the stairs again. No more of us stepping over the tall baby gate to go up or down the stairs!

2nd major thing is that my cousin, Matt, and his wife, Jessica, had their first little baby on April 4th. A little girl named Kinzley Scott, and she is a doll! I have enjoyed all the time I’ve had to love on her so far and I can’t wait to watch her grow up through the years! Isn't she just precious?
Last weekend was Easter, along with many other activities. I got to see some wonderful friends from high school and their kids. Sara and her daughter, Allison, were in town from Houston, so it was great to see them and see how big Allison is getting! I know it looks like Allison is scared slightly, but she really likes me, I promise!

My 4-year-old nieces had their first ever gymnastics clinic and I can’t even describe to you how much I enjoyed watching them. I started gymnastics when I was 9 and I did it until I went off to college. I did dance and all kinds of sports growing up. Aside from basketball (I loved the team aspect of that sport), gymnastics was my favorite and something I absolutely loved! I loved how strong I felt doing it, how accomplished it made me feel when I learned a new trick, and how much it helped me in the other sports I played. So, even though they are 4 and aren’t doing massive huge tricks, it made my heart very happy watching them do gymnastics. And I hope they continue to have fun and love it as much as I did! This picture below is V in the pink shirt and blue tights. You can see T in her pink shirt toward the right of the picture.

This next picture is T (pink shirt and green tights) doing a somersault.

We also had a dinner celebration for my grandparents. It was their 60th wedding anniversary on April 14th, and this past Saturday we celebrated with their friends and family, and everyone had a great time! Below is me and my brother with my grandparents.

These pretty ladies are my nieces!

Between seeing old friends, watching gymnastics, celebrating anniversaries, hunting Easter eggs, going to a wonderful Easter church service, celebrating Easter and eating lots of good food with family, I am worn out!

But, there will be a race recap of my half marathon coming soon. I have to get it done because I have another race coming up this weekend. 5 of us are going to Oklahoma City to do the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Relay and I’m so excited as it’ll be a lot of fun! I’ll recap that race after we get back.

Relax, Race, Recover

So this is a 3 part catch-up post. I seriously meant to post this past weekend, but I was honestly too busy relaxing to post. Well, not totally relaxing since I did a 7 mile run on Saturday, I cleaned the house, and my husband and I had a couple (or three) date nights. So not all relaxing, but I was relaxing away from the computer. And when you're at a computer all week like I am, it's nice to take a break!

Part 1: Relax: My husband and I rarely get a weekend off together, but this past weekend we did. We went out to dinner with some friends on Friday and planned on going to a movie after dinner. But, with the waiting for a table and all the good catching up we were doing, we missed the movie. But that was fine, because the conversation was way better than any movie! On Saturday we slept in a little, I went on my 7 mile run while he slept some more, and then we went to dinner just the two of us. Then on Sunday, we had a nice lunch out before running errands and then he made chili, which made for a yummy dinner while watching a Netflix movie. We watched The Lovely Bones. I won't say it was a great movie because it was totally not what I was expecting, but it was good. Glad I didn't pay to see it in the theater though! After writing that paragraph, it doesn't sound like the most relaxing weekend, but we had fun anyway!

Part 2: Race: The Race part of the title wasn't in reference to the 7 miler I did on Saturday, but refers to this coming Saturday and the first race of 2011 for me! I am heading to Houston to see my friend, Sara, and her beautiful new baby girl! I came across the Rockets Run 5K and decided that I should do it! Warmer climate + running outside in January = perfect! My Saturday run is actually supposed to be 8 miles, so I'll switch my 3 mile run day on Thursday with the Saturday run to make up for it. I'll give you an update after the race of course!

Part 3: Recover: Our lab, Maverick, is recovering well from his ACL surgery that I posted about HERE. He got his stitches out last Friday and his incision looks great! We now have 6 weeks left of keeping him inactive. He is feeling much better and is wanting to walk on his leg, so the hard part is for us keeping him from doing that as much as possible. He stays in his kennel when we're not home, but we do let him lay on his big fluffy pillow when we are home and are able to monitor him. I'm hoping these next 6 weeks go by fast. Once they are over, we will start 8 weeks of physical therapy with him to get him back to normal!

I am excited that I only have 3 more days of work this week and have a nice 3 day weekend coming up! I hope everyone enjoys their week! What do you have going on this week and weekend?

Post-ACL Surgery

Maverick's surgery went well yesterday. He stayed at the vet overnight and we went today to pick him up. When they brought him out to the waiting room, he was SO excited to see us. Trying to keep him calm was pretty hard. But we got him in the car and I think he fell right asleep knowing he wasn't at the vet's office anymore.

To make sure the healing process goes well, he has to stay in his kennel for 8 weeks. The only exceptions to that are when we take him outside to do his business, or if we are home and can supervise him, he can be out of his kennel if he is just laying on the floor. We got him a large dog pillow and ever since we brought him home 2.5 hours ago, he has been laying on it and hasn't really moved. He is really groggy from all the medicine, which is good, because resting is the best thing for him right now.

It is going to be a long 8 weeks trying to keep him from moving much at all, but it is definitely worth it! After the first 8 weeks, we'll do physical therapy with him here at home. That will last another 8 weeks before he can go back to full normal activity. We are glad everything went well and that we can now start the road to recovery. Here are some pictures of him after we got him home.

Bode (the top of the picture) was glad that his brother is home

Poor Maverick and his shaved leg

Maverick and his Dad

ACL Surgery!

Today is the big surgery day! No, I didn't get injured while running (knocking on wood that I don't). Our black lab, Maverick, is the one who has to have surgery. I dropped him off at the vet this morning on my way to work and the poor guy had no idea what was going to happen to him. He was just happy that he got to take a ride in Mom's car!

Maverick went on a pheasant hunting trip with his dad a little over a month ago. That is where he hurt his knee. After one vet trip, we watched him to see if it got better after 10 days (it didn't), then another vet trip and an exam, the conclusion was that he tore his ACL. One option was taking him to K-State to have the surgery, but with that being farther away and having to make several trips out there, we decided to have our vet do it. He is a great vet and highly recommended, plus it is more convenient and less traveling for us and Maverick.

I will try to be patient throughout this day until I get the call this afternoon saying everything went well. I'm not great at being patient about things like this, but I'll keep myself busy and thinking of other things as much as I can! Just wanted to include a picture of him hunting ducks on the river a year or two ago. He loves to hunt with his dad and only being 5 years old, it was very important for us to get him as good as new. That way him and his dad can have many more years of hunting together!


I will make sure to give an update once we are able to bring him home tomorrow.

New Blog Design!

I'm really new with all this blog stuff and although the basic templates that blogger has are fine, I just wanted something a little more "hip"! I found this awesome blog site from one of my friend's blogs. There are all kinds of free blog backgrounds and they are so cute! You can click on her button that is at the top left hand side of my blog. It is called Aqua Poppy Designs.

I was very excited and pleased with myself when I finally figured out how to get the background to work. I will be honest, I didn't figure it out on my own. I had to contact the blog owner, and she very graciously pointed me in the direction of "the directions!" But, with her help, I figured it out and I have a new blog design. I hope you like it. It was hard to choose as she has many great options!

And this last part has nothing to do with my new blog design, but I thought I would share that we found out today that our lab will have to have surgery. While pheasant hunting with my husband a few weeks ago, he fetched a bird and came running back on only 3 legs. He wouldn't put any weight on one of his back legs. After 1 vet trip, then monitoring him for almost 2 weeks to see if he would heal, and then another vet trip today, we found out that he did tear his ACL and will have to have surgery. We haven't scheduled his surgery date yet, but when I know more, I'll update you again. Poor doggy isn't going to like the 8 weeks of recovery that will require him to stay in his kennel! But, he'll get better and will have many years of hunting ahead of him!