This past weekend was supposed to be one of resting and retreating -- hanging out at Nauset Beach with my sister and her fiance and just enjoying the waves (they have one of those campers which go on the back of a truck and stay about 20ft from the waves).
We went out to dinner Thursday night...had a great time, kept it lowkey.
Then came Friday morning...I was going to go buy my new camera (thanks for your thoughts on which would be best!), finish packing for the beach and off I'd go.
I woke up with horrible chest area pains and, soon after, the vomiting started. How could this be? I was supposed to be having a resting retreat weekend on THE OCEAN -- my favorite place!
Instead, I spoke with my assistant around 2:30pm who diligently typed my symptoms into the comptuer and made me call my doctor...I described the symptoms to him and it was "get to the ER...I'm calling them to let them know you're coming".
I called my Mum and off we went...
After about 6 hours of waiting and IV drips for fluids and pain meds, I had an ultrasound and they admitted me for emergency gall bladder surgery.
Turns out it was "acutely enflamed" which means it's now sitting in a jar on a shelf somewhere rather than in me.
I came home yesterday to the "relaxation" of 3 dogs wanting to know where mommy has been for two nights (after all, there were no suitcases packed so there was no warning) and the most fragrant flowers I've received in a long time -- and they were for my being down a size and sent from someone who had no idea about my surgery sidetrip.
My only hope is that the gall bladder was heavy so the scale will finally move and if not from that, then the 3 days of not eating will help it along. :-(
My postings will be a little erratic this week as I hang out and rest some. Enjoy your week!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
A day in Provincetown, Cape Cod
My husband surprised me by taking a day off this past Monday and whisking me to Provincetown (or P-town as it's known here) for a day of walking around and simply enjoying the ocean air.
It was so much fun to just "get away" and play hookie for a day. It's funny...I love to take pictures, but have a bigger digital camera with the super zoom lens (WHY did I bring Jerry with me when I purchased) and so only took it out while on the pier and never took photos of all the interesting sites which P-town is known for.
Soooo, as a present for this morning's workout which Fern (my trainer) told me was "BEST EVER", I'm purchasing a sleek little digital camera which can fit in the back pocket of the jeans I bought the other night (one size smaller than usual, I might add!) :-)
If you can recommend a great little digital camera, I'd love to hear about it. I'm leaning towards a Kodak, Nikon Coolpix or Canon.
Friday, August 15, 2008
TGIF...I usually work out especially hard on Thursdays (see yesterday's post) and so Fridays are a complete and total reprieve from the gym UNLESS I feel like swimming.
This morning, I felt like sleeping. :-)
Regardless of whether or not I go to the gym, I still take Sasha (aka "pretty girl") for her morning rehab walk. Sasha had a full hip replacement last October and so she gets special "Mommy & Me" walks without the other two dogs. We've both come to treasure our early morning quiet walks -- we tend to see very few people and several birds and bunnies (can you feel Sasha's giddiness?)!
After our walk (all birds, no bunnies), DH (darling hubby) and I spent some time in the garden -- he's got an amazing "red" thumb for growing tomatoes. We have some that are the size of little pumpkins.
And while I take most Fridays off, I've been on tons of calls this week and am a little behind in my emails, so...here I sit devouring watermelon and about to tackle email (my goal is to have an EMPTY email box every Friday).
Happy Friday!
This morning, I felt like sleeping. :-)
Regardless of whether or not I go to the gym, I still take Sasha (aka "pretty girl") for her morning rehab walk. Sasha had a full hip replacement last October and so she gets special "Mommy & Me" walks without the other two dogs. We've both come to treasure our early morning quiet walks -- we tend to see very few people and several birds and bunnies (can you feel Sasha's giddiness?)!
After our walk (all birds, no bunnies), DH (darling hubby) and I spent some time in the garden -- he's got an amazing "red" thumb for growing tomatoes. We have some that are the size of little pumpkins.
And while I take most Fridays off, I've been on tons of calls this week and am a little behind in my emails, so...here I sit devouring watermelon and about to tackle email (my goal is to have an EMPTY email box every Friday).
Happy Friday!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Whew...what a day!
Today's workout was the best/worst yet -- it ended with my being BEET purple (no exaggeration, wish I had a camera!) and completely soaked in sweat.
Have your knees ever sweated? It's a very odd feeling and mine did today -- apparently this is a sign of a "great workout". I beg to differ.
Here's a rundown of the fun from the morning...
Leave to go to gym to find that someone hit our mailbox last night and it's now separated from its door and its post.
At gym...20 minutes on treadmill at 4.5 incline and 3.5 mph, 14 sets of 3 pulldowns (50lb), 5 push-ups, 10 situps on little core ball, 15 airsquats per set. That's 42 pulldows, 70 push-ups, 140 situps and 210 airsquats.
My intent was to swim afterwards -- I did go into the pool and floated. There wasn't energy left for more than that. :-)
Then off to Walmart (ick) for a new mailbox. Couldn't find it and there was no one to ask and there's only so much walking I was able to do (willing yes...able, not-so-much).
Then off to farmer's market to restock up on spinach, apples, oranges and carrots for morning juice and, in honor of my workout, a beet.
Home to juice all of the above and 1/4 of beet and one cucumber (it needed eating). It was a decent combo although I don't like beets.
And then off to finish a press release and begin a full day of coaching calls...
Have your knees ever sweated? It's a very odd feeling and mine did today -- apparently this is a sign of a "great workout". I beg to differ.
Here's a rundown of the fun from the morning...
Leave to go to gym to find that someone hit our mailbox last night and it's now separated from its door and its post.
At gym...20 minutes on treadmill at 4.5 incline and 3.5 mph, 14 sets of 3 pulldowns (50lb), 5 push-ups, 10 situps on little core ball, 15 airsquats per set. That's 42 pulldows, 70 push-ups, 140 situps and 210 airsquats.
My intent was to swim afterwards -- I did go into the pool and floated. There wasn't energy left for more than that. :-)
Then off to Walmart (ick) for a new mailbox. Couldn't find it and there was no one to ask and there's only so much walking I was able to do (willing yes...able, not-so-much).
Then off to farmer's market to restock up on spinach, apples, oranges and carrots for morning juice and, in honor of my workout, a beet.
Home to juice all of the above and 1/4 of beet and one cucumber (it needed eating). It was a decent combo although I don't like beets.
And then off to finish a press release and begin a full day of coaching calls...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
YEAH! I survived!
It's official...Fern hasn't killed me (yet) -- although tomorrow we're working on legs. OUCH!
My body boycotted all things exercise-related this morning and I woke up too late to swim (the little kids have swim lessons starting at 8:15) and, given that I couldn't lift my laptop this morning from yesterday's "fun", my body shared that no weights would be involved today.
I did, however take Sasha for a leisurely 1/2 mile walk -- Fern wouldn't count it as cardio, but I'm counting it (there was mild sweating involved -- we were in the sun after all!). :-)
Thanks so much all the emails and recounts of your own versions of "Fern". I'll be posting a picture of him later today -- I keep one in the house as motivation when I don't feel like getting up and out. What (or who) keeps you motivated when you're just not in the mood?
Off to make my morning juice (spinach, carrots, apple, orange and fresh blueberries picked last night) and then answer some more coaching questions from my survey (you can take it here) -- I'm answering the questions in a "Dear Sandy" format and you can catch up on them on my small business and marketing blog if you're interested.
With love and abundance,
Sandy :-)
My body boycotted all things exercise-related this morning and I woke up too late to swim (the little kids have swim lessons starting at 8:15) and, given that I couldn't lift my laptop this morning from yesterday's "fun", my body shared that no weights would be involved today.
I did, however take Sasha for a leisurely 1/2 mile walk -- Fern wouldn't count it as cardio, but I'm counting it (there was mild sweating involved -- we were in the sun after all!). :-)
Thanks so much all the emails and recounts of your own versions of "Fern". I'll be posting a picture of him later today -- I keep one in the house as motivation when I don't feel like getting up and out. What (or who) keeps you motivated when you're just not in the mood?
Off to make my morning juice (spinach, carrots, apple, orange and fresh blueberries picked last night) and then answer some more coaching questions from my survey (you can take it here) -- I'm answering the questions in a "Dear Sandy" format and you can catch up on them on my small business and marketing blog if you're interested.
With love and abundance,
Sandy :-)
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
It's official...Fern IS trying to kill me!
I had a training session with Fern this morning and begged him to be easy on my knee as it's been acting up from an old running injury.
He smiled (I should have known I was in trouble) and said he would.
To be fair, he was very gentle on the knee. My arms, shoulders, abs and stomach however didn't fare quite as well.
His philosophy is simple...if everything else hurts, I won't even feel the knee.
In all honesty, I lost count of the number of situps, crunches, bench presses, tricep curls, bicep curls, and thingies over the back of my head with dumbbells that we did today.
When done, I couldn't hold my water bottle. Others in the weight room looked, smiled and said "wow, what a great workout".
I had other words in mind.
I'm thrilled to say that 8 hours after finishing with him, I can now hold a water bottle and even pick up my 17lb dog Buddy.
This type of pain makes it easy to say DEFINITELY NOT when offered Ben & Jerry's!
Getting my business in shape was nothing compared to this! :-)
He smiled (I should have known I was in trouble) and said he would.
To be fair, he was very gentle on the knee. My arms, shoulders, abs and stomach however didn't fare quite as well.
His philosophy is simple...if everything else hurts, I won't even feel the knee.
In all honesty, I lost count of the number of situps, crunches, bench presses, tricep curls, bicep curls, and thingies over the back of my head with dumbbells that we did today.
When done, I couldn't hold my water bottle. Others in the weight room looked, smiled and said "wow, what a great workout".
I had other words in mind.
I'm thrilled to say that 8 hours after finishing with him, I can now hold a water bottle and even pick up my 17lb dog Buddy.
This type of pain makes it easy to say DEFINITELY NOT when offered Ben & Jerry's!
Getting my business in shape was nothing compared to this! :-)
Saturday, August 9, 2008
When Less is More...
I just finished reading my friend and Mastermind buddy Karen Knowler's ezine "Successfully Raw" (http://www.TheRawFoodCoach.com) and Karen mentioned how she's experiencing the phenomenon that "less is more".
After being in training for the past month (not only am I getting fit, I'm in training for a triathlon -- where I run and swim and team up with someone else for the bike riding piece), I couldn't agree with Karen more.
I find myself not only wanting less food, but less EVERYTHING -- less clutter, less clothing, less "stuff' overall.
It's amazingly freeing and creates space for better things to come.
Are you willing to experience the space?
After being in training for the past month (not only am I getting fit, I'm in training for a triathlon -- where I run and swim and team up with someone else for the bike riding piece), I couldn't agree with Karen more.
I find myself not only wanting less food, but less EVERYTHING -- less clutter, less clothing, less "stuff' overall.
It's amazingly freeing and creates space for better things to come.
Are you willing to experience the space?
Friday, August 8, 2008
Juicer Fiasco
I've been doing A LOT of juicing lately...my parents bought me a Jack LaLane juicer a few Christmas's ago and I finally tackled it about two weeks ago.
It's been a GREAT experience! My friend and client Lynn Rousseau of http://www.TheConsciousLeader.com recommended a great recipe (spinach, oranges and carrots) to which I've added apples.
As I was happily chopping away this morning, I learned a few things:
1. Even though they SAY you don't need to chop carrots down if you have a large (3 inch) feeding tube, they are WRONG!
2. When they say to always use the "food pusher", they are RIGHT!
3. Battle scarred and still finding bits of carrot pulp around my kitchen, the juice is still fantastic.
Be happy you weren't here...bits of carrot shooting everywhere, dogs barking (after all, they're getting pelted with carrot bits) and me insanely laughing as I tried to get to the OFF button.
and so begins a HAPPY FRIDAY!
It's been a GREAT experience! My friend and client Lynn Rousseau of http://www.TheConsciousLeader.com recommended a great recipe (spinach, oranges and carrots) to which I've added apples.
As I was happily chopping away this morning, I learned a few things:
1. Even though they SAY you don't need to chop carrots down if you have a large (3 inch) feeding tube, they are WRONG!
2. When they say to always use the "food pusher", they are RIGHT!
3. Battle scarred and still finding bits of carrot pulp around my kitchen, the juice is still fantastic.
Be happy you weren't here...bits of carrot shooting everywhere, dogs barking (after all, they're getting pelted with carrot bits) and me insanely laughing as I tried to get to the OFF button.
and so begins a HAPPY FRIDAY!
Monday, August 4, 2008
"Fern" sounds like such a gentle word
When I think of the word "Fern", I think of those light and airy plants that grow in the woods -- there are several in my woods.
When the wind blows they move to and fro and give a gentle rustling sound. Ahhh...
That is not the case with my newest association of the word: Fern, short for Fernando, is my personal trainer and has been for about 3 weeks now.
He recently won 4th place in a body building contest and is helping me get my body in the same shape my business is in -- strong and healthy!
Here's a sample morning session:
100 situps on a core building ball
60 squats with a 30lb barbell
a mile on the treadmill at an incline of 3 and speed of 4.0
50 walking lunges
Followed by a minimum of 10 laps in the pool
I'm firmly convinced he's punishing me for having him at the gym at 6am. While I'm getting healthy, I don't want to give up my morning writing time, so...6am it is. :-)
Off to write my newsletter for tomorrow. Remember, MAKE it a great day!
When the wind blows they move to and fro and give a gentle rustling sound. Ahhh...
That is not the case with my newest association of the word: Fern, short for Fernando, is my personal trainer and has been for about 3 weeks now.
He recently won 4th place in a body building contest and is helping me get my body in the same shape my business is in -- strong and healthy!
Here's a sample morning session:
100 situps on a core building ball
60 squats with a 30lb barbell
a mile on the treadmill at an incline of 3 and speed of 4.0
50 walking lunges
Followed by a minimum of 10 laps in the pool
I'm firmly convinced he's punishing me for having him at the gym at 6am. While I'm getting healthy, I don't want to give up my morning writing time, so...6am it is. :-)
Off to write my newsletter for tomorrow. Remember, MAKE it a great day!
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