8 Week Challenge

Hey all! I'm doing an 8 week weight loss challenge!

I found out there is a big paranormal convention happening in September. There are big named paranormal authors, and even one of the stars from a favorite paranormal reality show of mine (on the Syfy channel) is going to be there. There is going to be a paranormal investigation, a mixer with the guests of honor, and other stuff. So I figured it would be fun to go. I am big into the paranormal. I do paranormal research, I've been writing a book about the paranormal, I've done paranormal investigations, so I figure it would be fun to go to. And since it's on the way home... why not?

Low and behold, I have to be out of town in September, and the convention starts the day I'm headed home... and it's actually along the way. So I bought tickets and am going to make a stop over at the convention. I figured that gave me a good opportunity to challenge myself to get over this plateau I've hit. I really want to lose some weight before the convention cause I would like to buy a new outfit for the guest of honor mixer.

My goal is to lose at least 2 lbs a week in 8 weeks which would be 16lbs. I'd love to lose more than that... but I figured with the ups and downs I've had in the last few months... 2 lbs a week would be a realistic goal, and if I do better one week, great.

I started off strong. I walked 1.3 miles today (would have been more but for the heat) and the rest of the day I did a lot of walking around the house, stopping only to practice my guitar lesson for the week. So I'm off to a strong start. If you are looking to kick start your diet... join me on the 8 week challenge. Post your updates here or on my youtube channel and let me know how you're doing!

Anyway... I've been getting a lot of private messages about doing another Walking Dead video. I have a lot of the same questions from fellow fans, especially those who only watch the series and have questions about the comic... so, since I'm sitting here watching a Walking Dead Marathon... I've decided I'll go ahead and do another video. The next video will be discussing the Characters. similarities and differences between the comic and TV series.

Around the 14th of July I'll be uploading an update for the first week of my 8 week challenge.

Mackinac Island Trip

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Hey Guys! Wow I had a great time on Mackinac Island! It's so beautiful there. This was the second time I've been there and I still haven't seen it all. There is just so much to see. It really has something for everyone.

If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life... then this is the place to go. No motorized vehicles of any kind except snow mobiles in winter, and emergency vehicles like ambulances. The main mode of transportation is bicycle, foot or horse. Imagine waking up in the morning to the sound of birds chirping, and the clip clop of horses hooves. No honking, no revving of engines, no squealing of tires, no car alarms accidentally going off. the loudest sound is the tink tink of  bicycle bells.

If you love nature, you would love the island. Flowers of every kind and color decorate the Victorian style homes along the boardwalk, lilacs in bloom between May and June... the lilac festival held the 2nd week of June. Bunnies come out early morning and allow you to get close enough to watch them play in the dew sparkling grass. There are so many places to sit and view the crystal clear blue Lake Huron, a beautiful view of the sun setting behind the Mackinac Bridge, the moon shimmering in the water on a clear night.

If you love visiting places of history, this is also the place for you. Mackinac Island was originally sacred land to the Native American people indigenous to the area. When their loved ones would pass away, they would be sent to the island for burial. It is where the "Great Spirit" lived. As the island was built up by explorers who settled there... many remains were unearthed during construction, and reburied in a place where they wouldn't be disturbed. Even in modern times, most recently, this last winter - remains were unearthed during renovations. Even today the people of Mackinac, with a great respect for the island's history, will bury the remains in an undisturbed place, send the remains to Native American Elders for proper burial, or to the state of Michigan's government for them to properly handle the precious remains.

The island was home to a missionary who built Mission House to house and teach Native American children. He also founded Mission church, and thus the southeast end of the island became known as Mission Point. It was next home to a well known evangelist. He used the area as a religious retreat center, which only lasted 2 years. It next became a college, which only lasted 4 years. Not long enough for most people get get a degree.

Eventually it became a resort. It's important to note, the main lodge is made of tresses that weigh 9 tons each... in the shape of a giant tepee. The reason this is notable, legend has it that there was a Native American prophecy that said "Some day, a great tepee will be erected in the east, under which all nations will come together to learn about peace."

And they do. While there, I've met people from Jamaica, Cuba, England, Japan, China, Korea, Finland, the U.S., Canada, Australia, and one said he and his wife were from Italy. When on the island, everyone are friends. They talk, they smile, they laugh together. I've never heard an unkind word while there. Everyone is ready to greet you with a smile. The people who work there are amazingly nice and helpful.

If you're into movies... Visit Mackinac Island, take a horse by the Grand Hotel, visit the Mission Point Resort Theater... walk by the Orpheum theater, get some fudge from Murdick's Fudge shop... then watch "A Moment in Time"... the 1980 movie with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.

Speaking of Fudge... there are so many shops downtown where you can buy clothes, gifts, souvenirs, rent bikes, and of course fudge. I bought a shoe, completely made of chocolate. All handmade from the chocolate itself to the shape of the shoe. It was solid chocolate. I cracked a few corners off the night I bought it and it just melted in your mouth. it was the most delicious, pure chocolate I've ever eaten. When leaving the island, my mom was in charge of the shoe and suitcases. I was in charge of the dogs and stroller. My mom put the suitcase on the sidewalk, the shoe in a small box tied to the top... it was top heavy because of that and fell... right in horse pee. Shoe had to go bye bye. *sniff* I was going to share that with my brother and his family who were coming to visit when we got home. saved me calories I guess. lol

and of course, for those who like a thrill, there are many haunts. From the scary Orpheum theater which is now a haunted house... to real life haunts. go to Mission Point Resort and visit "Haunts of Mackinac". get tickets for the various tours. One tour takes you on a tour of the whole downtown telling you about all the ghosts that still roam the various taverns and bed and breakfasts, and what they do to scare and tease guests. One tour takes you just around the Mission Point resort where the ghost history flourishes. Mission house, where many children died from illnesses they didn't have the medical advancements to cure, can still be heard the sound of children's feet running through the halls despite no children living there. The straights lodge is haunted by a heart broken man dubbed "Harvey" who committed suicide after being rejected by his girlfriend, on the cliff behind what was once his college dorm. he still haunts the lodge as well as the theater. The theater has many ghosts, Harvey and a little girl named Lucy being the most famous.

You can also buy tickets to investigate the theater. A paranormal investigation. because I'm doing research for the book, the owner of Haunts of Mackinac set me up with a free investigation. So many things happened that night. being touched, being told to get out, the light stick incident that no matter what theories I tried, I could not replicate or explain the incident... If you do not believe in ghosts, you will leave an investigation believing.

So definitely visit Mackinac Island. It is a great time! I got a lot of exercise, lost a little weight, the dogs were quite famous (which I explain in the video so watch the video.) you won't regret going. It is quite expensive... I have to save up an entire year to go... but it's worth it in the end. (Click on images to enlarge)

Got in the Paper 2x.

So, I'm thinking the local paper should start paying me as a freelance photographer. a few years ago I got a picture of an ultra rare weather phenomenon called a Roll Cloud. Not only did it make the paper, with the write up I did of it, they even interviewed a meteorologist about it. It was 2 pages long. I got a photo of a tree fire caused by the tree falling on a live wire that made front page news... I put a photo of my Catholicism class in the paper for the food drive they collected.... I wrote an article about wildlife and put it in the "letters to the editor" section.

Now, about 2 weeks ago, I was leaving my house to catch a video of a momma Doe and her newborn fawn sleeping in tall grass, when a big black flash caught my eye. A black bear! AH KAWAII! Such a chubby bubby rolly polly cutie pie. I followed him for a while taking video. My mom drove while I recorded it. He even stood up and looked at me on his hind legs

(Black Bears don't stand on their hind legs to look larger like Grizzlies... they do it to get a better smell of what's going on around them and see better.) It was really cool. When he realized we weren't a threat, he carried on his way. The 2nd photo made it in to the local paper with a write up I did.

Then, on Tuesday a rare event called the Venus Transit occurred. That's when Venus passes between the Sun and Earth (or another planet) becoming visible for a brief window of time. You would view the transit as you would a solar eclipse. With special eclipse glasses, with a pinhole projector, from a camera attached to a telescope, or the way I did it, with lvl 10 - 14 shade welder's glass.

It was really amazing. The most amazing thing... for those, like me, who missed it (or didn't know about it) when it happened in 2004... this was the last time we'd see this transit until 2117. so it won't happen again for over 100 years, and it felt good to be able to see it happen live. I used my welders glass as a filter for my camera and got a few pics of the transit, which made front page of the paper along with a small write up.

That itty bitty black speck is Venus. Makes you think huh? Think of how large the sun must be for Venus to look that small. Think about it this way... Earth is only a smidge bigger than Venus... So yeah... puts things into perspective.

anyhoo. That was cool I thought. Made it into the paper 2x in less than 2 weeks. lol! Like I said, soon they should start paying me for my submissions. ha ha.

SUNBURN! WAAA

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been really busy.

Dojo is doing really well on his medication and new diet. (Knock on wood). He hasn't had any bile vomiting, his poops have never been normal. this is the first time he's had normal poops... he's feisty and energetic, his eyes are crystal clear... God willing, he'll continue to improve. so far so good. My other dog is doing great too. She's a total momma dog. She was so sad and stressed when he was sick, so when he's healthy, she's a happy baby girl. She loves her little brother.

Things are good here too. I am taking guitar lessons, just learned my first 6 notes, and my first song that implements 5 of the first 6 notes I learned. I got a really nice guitar from Japan. Pretty guitar, great sound. I'm really enjoying the guitar.

I lost the weight I gained during those 2 weeks I had to leave town to take care of my pup, plus I lost an extra pound. So I'm not where I expected to be had I not gained that weight back... but at least I'm back on the right track.

I had a rummage sale to make a few extra bucks. got rid of a lot of stuff I really didn't need, and made some $$ for my vacation which is really cool. but I got REALLY sunburned.

I had close to a 3rd degree burn on my shoulders, and eventually I needed to get a prescription medicated salve from my doctor which has seemed to help.

But talk about pain. Wow. It was overcast the first day of the rummage so I didn't expect to get burned so I didn't use SPF... and got burned. The next day I wised up and used SPF I found in my bathroom... but it turns out SPF does have an expiration, and it was basically useless. So I got burned worse. (Word to the wise, change your SPF every year.)

I'm finally starting to go from purple to red to tan. I think in the next day or two the burn should finally be completely gone (fingers crossed).

Anyhoo

Things are good and God willing, they'll keep going that way. thanks for all your prayers and messages of well wishes. I really do appreciate it. I'll talk to ya'all soon.

Anxiety Level Extreme

Hey guys.

So, I've been under a lot of stress the last few weeks.

1. There was psycho vet who wouldn't treat my dog because she "didn't like my attitude". (Heard from more than one person lately, that this vet acted unprofessionally, and one said unethically with their pets as well.)

2. Then I traveled 3 hrs away to a 24 hr vet... traveled 3hrs back the next morning, only to travel 6hrs to his old vet the same day.

3. my pup's hematocrits would not go down. (Should be 37 to 55%, he was in the 60's.) finally got them down to 56/57 which seems to be his norm... which led to worries of something wrong with his bone marrow.

4. X-rays showed irritation of the stomach and intestines and a black mass in his stomach which could have been a tumor, or a pocket of inflammation... so he had to have an endoscopic biopsy to see if it was cancer, or irritable bowel disease. The one thing that relaxed me was that the vet was seriously leaning towards IBD.

5. Spent $400 on the hotel one week, $400 on a hotel the next week, $440 on his X-rays, $250 on his biopsy, plus all the extras like food, a change of clothes I had to buy since I was there longer than expected, etc. Plus the $140 I owed the vet back home when I got my vet to do what psycho vet wouldn't... plus all of my normal bills. ($200, $104, $75 and $75.) So I'm as broke as one can get right now.

6. Biopsy results come in, and its what I was worried about. Thankfully there is no cancer... there is no long term effects of his bout of illness he gets as all of his cells and organs are functioning perfectly... BUT... (and this is one thing I was concerned about.) They don't have a definitive diagnosis. At the time of the biopsy he had been on the mend... so while there was some inflammation, there wasn't enough to diagnose IBD. There was still enough inflammation and symptoms of IBD to still LEAN that way. But the only way to definitively say for sure is to get a biopsy of his intestines, which they were not able to do during the endoscopic biopsy. It would have to be a more invasive surgical biopsy.

In the mean time, the vet is putting him on a medication for IBD called 'Flagyl"... and a special prescription hypoallergenic food. So if it is IBD and its caused by stress (and he is a high anxiety dog)... the Flagyl will keep everything inside working smoothly. If it's food related, the special diet should remove any of the allergens that can cause IBD. Only way to know is to be on it for a while and do another barium x-ray to see if the inflammation has gone down, or, wait to see if he has another bout of this illness. (which, can be 12 months from now as it seems to only happen 1x a year.)

So yeah, the biopsy results aren't what I wanted to hear. I was hoping for a more definitive, "this is IBD and here's the treatment." but at least it's not cancer, and in general, he's a healthy dog. What ever is causing this (Hopefully IBD) is not doing long term damage. (mostly because I get it treated right away. And perhaps it is IBD and this treatment will work. At least we have a game plan to try.

7. I gained 3 pounds in the 3weeks this has been going on. I've tried to stay on my diet as best I could despite being unprepared for a long out of town emergency... but I still gained. I didn't gain as bad as I thought I was going to.. but 3 pounds up still does not make me happy. I've been working hard today. I only had 1 big meal... and I did a lot of walking around today. Did some cleaning, walked or jogged around during commercial breaks, walked around when talking on the phone, tried to keep moving as much as I could. So we'll see if I can get this back on track.

8. My mom wants to cancel our June island vacation because she's worried about my dog. Which I don't blame her. Yeah it's a year between bouts usually, and yeah he's healthy otherwise, and yeah if it's IBD the meds and food should help... but what if we're on the island and he has a bout of his illness? there are no emergency vets on the island as far as I know, and we'd be stuck till morning to get a ferry back to the mainland. But then, what if he doesn't have another bout of it and we miss going on vacation... which would suck because I have an interview and investigation planned for a haunted theater on the island for the book I'm writing. But my dog's health does come first. So we don't know WHAT to do there.

9. Everything else in my life seems to be at a stand still. I joined Eharmony, Match, Speeddate, Christian Mingle and Catholic match... and have not found one man. Those who message me are over a decade too old, or are just not close to being on the radar of my type... and those who more what I'm looking for in a guy, who I wink at, are obviously not interested cause I never hear back. So I don't know. I feel like, 'what's wrong with me?' that I can't find ONE mutual match on 5 different dating sites. *Sigh* I even lowered my standards to include guys I wouldn't normally consider. It seems every guy is looking for a super model. Not one wants to consider someone whose on the heavier side. Even those who say they do, really don't. When they think of "curvy" and "a few extra pounds" they think of Tyra Banks whose curvy, and is a little thicker than the typical supermodel, but still has an amazing body.

10. My nail tech up and quit on me. (Grr Janet). She took a higher paying job, leaving me with really long acrylic nails in desperate need of filling or being taken off. The hair stylist's daughter is going to apprentice at her salon and take over for the nail girl... but... I'm cautious because her daughter is new, I don't know if she has any experience because I don't think she's college age... so I don't know. I'm willing to try anything once.

But yeah... as you can see, I'm just a mass of stress. Every muscle in my body is so tense, it physically hurts to walk. I'm absolutely miserable right now. Unfortunately, I don't want to say "It's got to get better from here cause it can't get any worse", cause I said that this afternoon, and shortly after some ancient guy almost backs into my car, before going on to almost cause another accident.

Anyway... sorry for venting ya'all. I promise I will get back on track with my diet stuff soon.

<3 Dee

Update on my pup

So, Dojo is back at the hotel with me and my mom and Yoshi. We finally got some good news. his Hematocrits are finally down. They are not where they should be (which is between 37 and 55) but they are much more acceptable than before. (yesterday they were 62... today they are 58.)

After a few days of staying around 61 and 62... he's finally down a few points, so that's good. When I got him home I gave him Pedialyte to drink which he accepted. it took a lot to keep him from guzzling it down. And I gave him a small amount of extra lean hamburger that I boiled in rice water with the pills the vet gave. (Nausea, antacid and antibiotic). He not only chowed it down willingly, he was angry that I wouldn't give him more. And so far, almost an hour later, he's still holding it all down.

So fingers crossed, it looks like he's on the mend. I'm not going to 100% say "Yay he's better!" but I'm cautiously optimistic.

The vet thinks this last bout may have stemmed with his teeth. he's needed a dental for a while, but I was always afraid to do it when push came to shove because he's not great under anesthetic, and I also worried about the stress of the procedure bringing his HGE on. however, it turns out... one of the POSSIBLE triggers may be the teeth. Bacteria built up causing it, or perhaps his teeth are bugging him and causing him stress... he has been playing with a hard toy and maybe it's hurting his teeth. So when he's over this, it's time for a dental and after the dental he gets his teeth brushed 2x a day whether he likes it or not. lol.

Again, since no one knows what triggers HGE, this is only a theory, but it's one I'm willing to try. Besides, dental issues can also cause heart disease, so it's a good thing to get done all the way around.

Lets just hope he is finally on the mend.

As for my diet... I've been under a lot of stress, so I hope I haven't gained any stress weight. I've tried to stick to my diet, but there's a few times I had to go off my diet because of traveling. I stayed within my points, but I didn't eat healthy foods. So I guess we'll see when I get home and weigh myself. Tomorrow, now that Dojo seems to be healing up... I may try to get a workout in. That's it for now.

Long few Days

So, late Saturday/Early Sunday, Dojo started having about of his HGE and I went through Hell trying to get him treated. (You can read about in my last blog post HERE.)

So when I finally think I have everything settled, it turned out it wasn't settled. Dojo vomited again yesterday afternoon and was acting really sick. Since doctor "human being" was on call still (again,m read the previous blog), my mom and I took a 3 hr drive to a 24 hr vet e.r. where we found his Hematocrits had not gone down. They hadn't gone up... but they were about the same as last time. So the vet gave him more fluids, a nausea medication and pain meds for discomfort.

He slept really good that night at the hotel, best night sleep he had in a long time. Drove home this morning, and took him to his vet this afternoon to do a recheck. His Hematocrits STILL haven't gone down. in fact, it was a point higher give or take... but the weird thing is, his proteins did go down. The vet thinks the proteins went down because he has so much fluids in his system... but she wasn't sure why the Hematocrits didn't go down as the fluids always work.

So I packed a suitcase and drove 6hrs to Milwaukee, where I am now. (feels like my mom and I have been on the road for 24hrs. First we drove around from 3 to 5am trying to get a vet to help him Sunday morning, then we drove to the ER 3 hrs away that afternoon,  drove 3 hrs back this morning, and immediately headed to Milwaukee this afternoon. Been up all Saturday, Sunday and now Monday with him.) I'm physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted.

Tomorrow, he is going to see his old vet who he use to have before we moved. And there is a 24hr clinic nearby if necessary. His vet at home thinks he'll probably need to be on an IV drip because flooding him sub-q isn't working. Hopefully we'll get this under control and maybe find out what caused it to act out in this manner so that the sub-q fluids didn't work.

One good sign is he is ravenous. When I was feeding Yoshi he was crying for some. So I called the E.R. vet and he said if it's been over 8hrs since he last vomited, he should have a small amount of food introduced. So I went to Walmart and bought him puppy food which I figured would be easy on this tummy, and he accepted it. Its a single serving container and I fed him less than half of a single serving as to not tax his tummy. I want to see if he can hold it down. 1 hr in and so far so good.

He really should be on a bland diet, so I'm not going to feed him any more till after he's done with the vet tomorrow. While he's at the vet, I'm going to go to my brother's house and boil some extra lean hamburger in rice water and when he gets home from the vet I'll feed him a small amount. If he can hold it down I'll feed him a little more later that night.

So this has been a really trying week. And I still blame psycho on call vet. If she had not been a *#@!& and treated him from the get-go instead of making him wait nearly 2 hrs to be treated (by a vet who wasn't even the one on call)... he probably wouldn't have gotten as bad as he did. Maybe he would have, but since she was a *#@!& and didn't do what she should have done as a professional, no way to prove it wasn't her fault.

anyway, I'm rambling. Sorry. Just under a lot of stress. My puppies are my babies. I want them both to be happy and healthy. It just breaks my heart when they get sick. It's a helpless feeling when you don't know what causes HGE to rear it's ugly head, so you can't prevent it. Anyway. I'm going to say a few prayers that they get him on the right road tomorrow.