Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!  Hubby and I are having a nice low key holiday at home this year.  I already opened one present early - a Nexus 7 tablet.  I love it!!!  I can't wait to see Hubby's face when he opens his gifts tomorrow!  This will be my first Christmas since my dad passed away.  It is difficult but we must go on.  I wish I could spend the holiday  with my mom but I don't have the help at work that I need to take time off.  Well for now I must go see what the dog wants.  Merry Christmas everyone!!!

still around

Hi all. I'm still around. It's been kind of crazy. I'm still working without an assistant manager at work, so that typically means 6 days a week, 60+ hours a week. I'm still working out with my training but my weight is holding steady. I fluctuate up a pound or two and back down a pound or two. Back in November, I took a week off to go fly to IL to see my Grandfather for his 80th b-day and then was supposed to spend some time back here in Seattle with my best buddy from Austin. Things didn't quite go as planned. Hubby and I made it back to see my grandfather, as did my mom and dad. Mom and Dad drove from Denver. However, when they got back to IL, Dad got sick and ended up in the hospital. That was Saturday. On Monday dad was still in the hospital but they were hoping to let him out on Tuesday so he and Mom could drive back home. Hubby and I flew back to Seattle as planned on Monday evening, stopping by the VA hospital there in St. Louis to see me Dad before we left. Got home safe and sound. Called mom Tuesday morning, they were letting Dad out and they were going to start the drive back to Denver. 30 minutes later, while they were on the road, Dad had a heart attack. Mom had already pulled over at a gas station, so EMTs arrived and rushed him back to the hospital. He had two more heart attacks at the hospital and were not able to save him. :( This was November 13th. :( I flew back to IL to be with my mom and the rest of our family there. Got to see Dad's brothers and many other family members. Then I helped drive mom back to CO. Her silly dog sat in my lap the entire way! It's been a month now and I still miss dad dearly. It's tough on my occasionally day off because that's usually when Dad and I talked the most. Although I call home usually every evening on my way home from work, Dad usually would let me talk to mom, except when I'd call while she was at work. In other news - hubby and I are officially trying to conceive!! We decided on Thanksgiving it was time! YAY!!

new dresses

I've always loved dresses but not how I look in them - until now!! woo hoo!!!

TGIF

Yay for Friday!! I actually have a day off from work today, super excited. I have not been posting much because since July I've been working 6 days a week from 8:30-7:30 a day. Here lately, I've been lucky to find some of my peers to cover for me for a day and let me have some time off, but even with 5 days a week, but the same hours, it leaves me pretty tired and I don't get on the compute much after that. Been keeping up with my workouts and loving it. My eating is some weeks good and others not so good, but lately, it's been good. I've been making "egg muffins" for the week. I take 6 eggs and mix them up with some salt, pepper, and whatever mix ins, such as sausage, potato and cheese and then pour them in to a jumbo muffin tin and bake. Pop them out and take one each day to work for breakfast! Delicious!! The scale is not moving, but my measurements are. I'm down to a size 6 for my work pants!! Some interesting numbers - I was at my highest in 2010. Since then I've lost 7.5 inches from my chest, 10.1 from my waist and 10.2 from my hips!! Of course there are losses else where too, but those are the biggies! I've gotten rid of a total of 43.5 from my body! That's 3.6 feet!!!! WOW!!!!

My first Triathlon - in pictures!

9 hours

In 9 hours I'll be competing in the Seattle Danskin Triathlon. Physically I'm ready but mentally I'm a tad nervous. Let's do it!!

Not enough hours in the day

Oh my. So, I'm still by myself at work - which means working 63 hours a week, every week. Sometimes, I get help for a half day, which means I work only 59 hours! LOL. Big improvement. It's not all bad though, I do love my job, but I'm looking forward to an improvement on the hours for sure. In other news, my Danskin Triathlon is ONE WEEK from today!! OMG!!!! I can't believe I'm actually doing it. And, yes my birthday is 11 days away! I'm ready for the Tri to be here and over to be quite honest. I've lost some of the excitement as I'm burned out with the fact that all I do is work and train for the event. Ahhhh well, after the tri I'll spend some time getting back to basics with my band. As I've been training I've not really lost much weight, but have done a good job maintaining it. I'm ready to drop a few more pounds for sure. Then, exciting news - hubby and I have started talking about if we're ready to start our family!! So, I need to put in a call to my surgeon and make sure I have the a-okay and to my primary care doc and maybe, just maybe, in October we'll start trying!! Hubby takes quite a few medicines due to his bi-polar that may not make this an easy task and he's not quite at a place where we can change his meds around, but we're hoping with his newest treatment, biofeedback, we'll be able to start changing his meds too. Super excited!!

Ten Things Thursday

Hmmmm.. Can I think of 10 things to say!?? LOL 1) I'm working 60 hours a week right now, it's crazy. Luckily, I took a few hours off today to rest and relax a little. It's basically open to close Monday thru Saturday with Sunday being my only guaranteed day off. 2) My weight is holding steady and has been for many months. I can eat what I want but in reasonable quantities. I guess this is maintenance, but I still want to drop another 10-15 lbs. My trainer and I discussed that I need to "clean" up my eating if I want to get there. 3) I had a fabulous 2 mile run today, followed by an hour of strength training with my trainer and then a visit to my Chiropractor. He's awesome and now I feel great. Last week I was having some major back pain, went to see him and he confirmed my hips were out of alignment. Between last week's adjustment and today I'm feeling much much better! I think he works miracles! ;) 4) We bought a hammock a few weeks ago and I'm loving relaxing in it with a good book when the weather permits! 5) My trainer, who is AWESOME also sells Rodan and Fields, a great skincare line by the doctors that created Proactiv. She turned me on to their soothe line, which is great for my sensitive skin! If anyone wants more information, let me know and I can get you in contact with her!! 6) I went to see Magic Mike last week. I went alone. LOL There were 5 people total in the theater! haha It was a fun movie to see, even if I was alone! 7) I've gone crazy with painting my nails and buying new polish colors, totally hooked on Essie!! 8) I also bought new boots for work. Cute ankle high boots with a 2 inch heel. A little tight since they didn't have wide width, but I think they will work! 9) Looking forward to seeing my friend from Texas when she comes out to Seattle in August to participate with me in the Danskin Tri. 10) 30 days left until my Danskin Triathlon!!!!!!

Change of mindset

It's interesting when you have to change your mindset from weight loss to maintenance or event training.... I say this because my trainer and I were discussing this the other day. For the last 6 years I have worked out and counted calories and kept my calories low to lose weight. For the last year, I've had my lapband to help. Now, I'm not at goal weight yet, but I am at a comfortable weight and I am training for a triathlon in August!!! My trainer and I have discussed that my focus between now and August is event training, not weight loss. This is harder than I thought! I'm still tracking calories and protein, but she's worried I will not get enough calories and protein to make it through my event training without injury or exhaustion. So, I'm trying very hard to eat right and get 100 + grams of protein a day. I've been averaging 85-90 grams of protein and about 1700 calories. Every day when I go see her, she checks in on my and it's still my instinct to feel like 1700 is too many calories! She feels it's just right for my training plan though. I don't doubt her, but after 6 years it's hard to change one's mindset!! After my Tri, I'll switch back to weightloss mode for the last 10-20 lbs I was to drop.

Short vent

Must vent - I hate when people don't get it! Grrrrrr!! I'm no where near being at my goal weight or being too thin, yet I was told I look like I'm wasting away and just skin and bones. Seriously, someone needs to get their eyes checked if they think I'm too skinny. Stepping off soap box.

More pictures

These two are me in a skirt for Grandma In-law's birthday - NO shaper garments needed!! LOL

picture

Oh I know...

It's been quite a while since my last post... I don't think I ever got around to sharing the details of my vacation either. So, we spent two weeks visiting The Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. Starting off flying in to Amsterdam. It was amazing. I did fine on the flight. Carried plenty of water and snacks with me just in case the airplane food did not agree with my band. I also carried GasX. Had no band troubles, but the GasX helps as I get burpy on the plane. Not sure why. In Amsterdam, we ate so many goodies and had a fabulous time. Took some train rides and even rode a boat around the canals. We took tons of pictures, I will share soon. Then, we took an overnight train to Germany - specifically, Munich. I slept on the top bunk! For once, I was not afraid of being too heavy! It was great. Again, carried water and snacks with me. Munich was nice - we just had the day there before taking another train out to Fussen, where we would spend a few nights. Had a YUMMY schnitzel and don't forget the apple strudel, I even had wine with dinner! Lots of sausage too. I stuck with yogurt for breakfast most days. I drank coffee with my meals... I broke all of the "rules!" LOL. We rented bikes and rode them the 3 miles out to the castles - Neuschwanstein Castle and Castle Hohenschwangau. Yes, the Neuschwanstein is the one the Disney castle is based on. GORGEOUS! We also saw the Residenz and the treasury when we were in Munich. Fabulous times! We then took some more trains to Switzerland. Again, so much food - pastries, chocolate, oh my! I even had pasta one night and a calzone. I typically avoid bread, pasta and rice. It's hard when in a foreign country to avoid those items some times. I did have a few times that the bread didn't agree with me, but no real stuck issues. I however, was not eating protein first and by the end of the two weeks I was feeling a little week. Starting drinking chocolate milk and that helped some.
When we got home, I ended up being very very sick.... I think I caught the stomach flu and it had me seriously worried about my band, but my surgeon says all is well since I recovered and have not had any issues.
I then was only home one week before catching another plane for a work trip. Again, the flight gave me no trouble. First couple of nights I hung out in the hotel room, however, by the last two nights I decided to go out and have fun and man did I let loose! For the first time in my life, I felt free and beautiful. Yes I'm married and no husband was not with me... I had guys at the bar actually paying attention to me, flirting with me, and buying me drinks... I've always been a no more than two drinks girl and then after having lap band, I hardly drink. A glass of wine and I can feel it... Let's just say I had a few too many drinks... First night I went out it was only 2 Vodka cranberries and a shot - I could walk back to the hotel, but the room spun went I went to lay down.. Oooopps. I woke up for class the next morning okay though. However, the next night was not as pretty... 1 key west cosmo, 3 vodka cranberry, and 2 washington apple shots... Okay, I admit, I went overboard... It was fun though - I did manage to break my glass and never finished that 3rd vodka cranberry... I had trouble walking. Woke up okay the next morning at least. For some reason though, those two nights were such an out of the ordinary event for me and I came home feeling great. In the week I've been home, people have commented on how happier I am, how I'm more relaxed and CONFIDENT!! Go figure! So then I went out and highlighted my hair! haha

Hubby and I went car shopping on Saturday and bought a new 2012 VW Golf TDI. I love it!!

Today I went and got fitted for bras and gave Victoria's Secret way too much money but got some bras that make me feel sexy and actually fit!!

Wednesday I go see my surgeon for an adjustment. Although I ate whatever I wanted on vacation I managed to drop more weight but as soon as I came home I found myself getting hungry every two hours and the weight yo-yoing.  Some pictures for your entertainment.

New hair color

Feeling sassy!

NSV

Wearing jeans on the airplane and being comfortable! Flying to Ohio for work.

Post vacation weigh in

Still recovering from the two weeks in Europe. We had a blast!!! Got back in town yesterday. The morning that we left my scale said 160. This morning, 156! Yahoo!! I will say that we had a great time, but my poor band needs a rest. I subjected it to foods I have not eaten since I was banded, not to mention drinking liquids too close to eating. I did well though, no sickness, major tightening or stuck episodes. We visited the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. I'll post more about our trip soon!

Travels

I will have womderful adventures to share of my travels soon. I just wanted to reasssure you i did not disappear.

Sent from my NOOK

Tippie

Tippie is exhausted

Hanging in there

I'm hanging in there. It has been crazy around here. Worked 830-730 m-f and 830-430 on Saturday for two weeks. Then my grandmother in law that does not speak much English is visiting us.
Today was a busy day. I woke up for my 6 am strength training session with my trainer then came home to clean up. Grandmother and I took Tippie, my dog, to drop her at the vet for a follow up on her nail situation. Then I headed to my doctor's office to have a cyst removed. Then we drove 30 minutes away to pick up the end tables grandmother bought us, had lunch with hubby, took grandma shopping for a new lamp for us and then picked up Tippie from the vet. My cyst removal was at 930 and it was 4 before I got home to rest. Ouchie- driving hurts the incision. Ahhh time to eat dinner and try to rest more.

Five fingers

Check it out! I tried these Vibrant five fingers shoes at REI today.  Pretty cool. I bought them, but not these pretty blue ones. I got pink/black ones. :) wore them about 15 minutes in REI and my legs are already sore. I think I will try wearing them around the house while I cook in the evening to get used to them.

In other news - I officially was offered the branch manager position at the branch I wanted! Yay!

Weight loss has stalled.  No making excuses - its all me.... I have not been eating well or healthy. I don't need a fill but I do need to get back eating better.

Working out about 4 days a week sometimes 5 so I'm doing okay in that area. I think I want to try SkyRobics sometime.  Its an aerobics class on trampolines!  Could be fun!!

Size eight

Yes I'm rocking my size eight pants today! I'm struggling with the scale moving down in the last month but at the same time who cares? I can west smaller pants than I could a month ago so something is working!

Bullet point day

* dad has surgery to replace his battery in his pacemaker and the lead to his heart - went well but they are keeping him overnight for monitoring. 
* I graduated my training program at work!  So excited!
* I put on a size 8 pair of pants and they fit!! (When I buy my work pants I always buy my current size and the next smaller size in the same style/brand)
*great workout with trainer - love doing pull ups with the giant rubber band thing!

Ice Skating

It truly is amazing how I've changed. It was my day off today and I was not feeling like doing anything. I was debating whether I even wanted to go to the gym! I woke up and started playing on the computer and hubby heading off to catch the bus to work - yes I could have offered to give him a ride but I was being lazy and I think I'm allowed to sometimes! SO about 15 minutes later the doorbell rings- hubby forgot his wallet - which means he forgot his bus pass. Go figure. There goes me being lazy so I throw some clothes on and run him to work and stop at the store to pick up a few things for dinner and he wanted am item from the french bakery for dessert so I stopped in there too. I got two desserts figuring we could share one but in a moment of laziness and old ways I sat on the couch after taking a bubble bath and proceeded to each my slice of tiramisu cake and debate whether I wanted to work out. My friend sent me a text saying that she heard I had the day off and did I want to go Ice skating. I've never been, so this sounded slightly scary to me. There I am on the couch with my tiramisu and thinking I just want to stay home and cuddle up and not do anything then I realize, hello, I've lost 80 something lbs by getting off my butt and doing something about it, so I should just sit around all day. I agreed to meet my friend and you know what, I LOVED IT!! In the past, I would have made some excuse not to go and would have stayed home but no, I'm different now and this sounded like fun and it really was! I'm sure my legs and butt will hurt and thank me tomorrow! hahahahaha :)

Sunday sunday sunday

Happy Sunday night! My last post was a random jumble of thoughts hidden within one paragraph. I was posting from my cell phone that day, so sorry if it was hard to follow! So, yesterday I went and re-timed my one mile run and this time I accomplished it in 11 minutes and 27 seconds!! Woo hoo!! That is compared to 11 minutes, 43 seconds back on 1/31. Not too shabby. I'm learning to push myself harder. I did the body fat testing I was mentioning in my last post. It was interesting I guess. It was a giant bath tub basically with a scale of some sort built in to it. The guy had me go under water and breathe out all the air I could as quickly as I could and then once the scale stopped moving he would tap on the side to tell me I could come up. He would do this until we had 2 consistent readings. It was harder that I thought to expel all the air in my lungs under water and get a consistent reading. In the end he showed my body fat at 50.6 lbs and 32.1%. This is supposed to be the "gold standard" of body fat testing, but comparing it to the numbers from my doctor office's "less accurate" method, they are not that much different. On 1/31 my doctor's office showed me at 54.51 lbs if fat and 33.7%. I think in the future I'm okay sticking with my doctor's method of measuring rather than paying the almost $50 for the test that is supposed to be more accurate. If the #s are that close, a little margin of error is okay with me. On to other news - hubby and I went to the comedy club last night to see Pauly Shore. It was fun to get out and have a date night and the comedy wasn't too bad although I think I enjoyed it more than hubby. It was nice to get all dressed up in my dress and boots and feel girly! Also went shopping and bought some cute new outfits the other day. I'll need to model them and take some pictures still. I'm excited about dinner tonight - I am cooking chicken thighs in the slow cooker with a mix of peanut butter and salsa for a Thai flavor. I hope they taste as good as they smell!

1 year bandiversary

Yesterday (2/9) was my one year bandiversary!! Yay. I went shopping today to celebrate. I bought some cute shirts. My band tightness that had me a little worried after my most recent fill has settled down and I'm comfortable.  Quite possibly in the green zone. Only trouble is with breakfast but I'm figuring it out. I'm down to 157 lbs. I hit 156 for a few days when I was struggling with not eating much.
Tomorrow as another celebration for my one year I'm getting tanked - mobile body fat testing.  I'll share the results tomorrow.

Slooooooow down!!

Well, my newest fill will help me remember to slow it down when I'm eating. HOLY COW!! It took me 20 minutes to get through a string cheese and yes I was full. Yesterday was first day back on foods after the adjustment and even today with my yogurt for breakfast I'm having to remember to take it slow! It's not a getting stuck feeling if I go to fast it just feels like I get an upset tummy if I go to fast. Same thing if I try to drink too much water too fast. I guess right before this fill I was getting to where I would eat a little to fast or I could chug water faster that I should and now it's a reminder not to do that. I made a delicious white bean chicken chili with green chiles for dinner last night - YUMMMM!! I'm taking leftovers for lunch and we'll have it again tonight for dinner too. After this I am heading to the gym for some cardio - I'm going to do a 1 mile timed run and then work on some speed work. My trainer and I really want to work on increasing my mile time. It's been around 12 minutes 30 seconds so we're looking for some improvement.

1 year follow up and adjustment

What an exciting day! I went to see my surgeon's office today for my one year follow up - my official one year is February 9th. I am proud to announce according to my BMI I am no longer obese! My BMI is now at 29.2 --- does happy dance!! Also, my body fat % is just above the desirable range, so almost there. Doc says body fat % should be 21-33% and I am at 33.7%. My official weigh in there is 162 - which is only slightly higher than my 160 on my home scale. My BMR is at 1528 calories - no wonder it's getting harder to drop the pounds! Oh well, awareness is important. They were telling me today they are VERY happy with my progress and I'm a "gold star" patient. I even got stars on my handout they gave me as I was leaving! They calculated for me that over the last year I have lost 70% of my excess body fat! Holy cow Batman! So, I'm feeling pretty good today. We did a .25 cc fill. She gave me the option of .25 or .5 with the consideration that I was starting at 7.25 ccs in my 11 cc band and they have found most patients start to feel too tight at 8 ccs. I opted for the .25 to be cautious knowing that if it is not enough I can always go back in to have more added in 4 weeks - easier than having to have it removed. So now I'm on my 48 hours of fluids and got my oil changed on my car and am back home hanging out with the dog! She's wanting to go out and play so bad but with her injured paw she can't. at least I know her pain is improving since she's up and moving more. ** oh and I forgot to add my lady did my adjustment this time without xray!

New low and new med

Woo hoo!! I hit 160. That's a new low for me. Been struggling all month with the scale and this makes me happy!! It's my goal for January and I hit it.
Has a stressful week and didn't get all my workouts in but tomorrow starts a new week and I feel better. Ready to get moving again at the gym.
Eating has been okay but not great.  I'm hungry every two hours and portion control slips easily but I am seeing my doc on Tuesday so I think an adjustment is in my future - already got my liquids for Tuesday and Wednesday. 
I also started a new birth control medicine today. I've been taking a pill but some days I struggle with swallowing it and it doesn't seem to regulate my cycle as well as it should so my doc said I could try the patch. I'm a bit worried it will come off but we shall see. Also worried that it says I will absorb more estrogen than on the pill which increases risk of suddenly effects but if I don't like it I can try something else .
Well I'm out for now - more laundry and playing on the Wii with hubby.

Snow

Almost 9 inches of it
...

snow day

We've been having some crazy weather here in Seattle. Thank goodness I was off work Monday as I could not get my car up the hill. Finally got it up and left it parked on the street at the top of the hill so I could get to work on Tuesday. Had a fabulous day at work and was looking for to my day off today - had my annual physical and check up with my primary care. Well, the weather is AWFUL so the doctor's office closed for the day and this cancelled my appointment, it's okay though, I'd rather everyone be safe. My work however is open and my assistant is by her self with just one other person there as everyone else called in. :( I feel like I should go in but at this point, it's just silly for me to be out on the roads. Supposed to have a big important meeting tomorrow, but due to the weather they decided today to go ahead and cancel, which is good, I'll just show up to the office instead. Plus, I won't have to be up as early so I can let things thaw a little hopefully. I think today is the last of the snowy weather. I hope.. Hubby and I went to the gym together to work out today though. He really was getting irritated being in the house and he needed some activity. The roads were bad and seemed to be getting worse. When we left this morning I had 5.5 inches of snow, after working out we have almost 7. it's crazy. it felt good though to get some running in! I have not worked out much this week but i have been logging my food, so that's a plus. I'm finding though that I can eat pretty much anything. Not good. It's time I think for an adjustment. Well, I'm out of here for now.

Getting back on track

Recovering from the holidays has not been easy. Too easy has it been for me to eat JUNK.... For lunch yesterday I ate string bean chicken from panda express, with an egg roll..... Not too bad in and of itself, but I could not leave well enough alone and for an afternoon snack I had a crispy beef burrito from taco time... Ummm. what the heck was I thinking? I mean honestly, this kind of food does not have a place in my daily diet. once in a while it is okay, but not every day every meal. Any way I start at my new office Tuesday so I am going shopping for a new suit jacket and groceries that will help me start my new meal plan so that I can make Tuesday a fresh start. I really want to spend the next couple of weeks paying attention to my body so when I go see my surgeon on the 31st for my one year follow up I can make a more informed decision on if I need an adjustment or not. Saw my sleep doctor this last week and he is going to have me do an at home study to see if I'm still having apnea episodes since I stopped sleeping with my CPAP right after surgery. HE wants to retest me in the clinical setting when I reach my goal weight. So that's cool. This week I go see my primary care also and we'll do all my labs to see how I'm doing with that. I think she'll be impressed with my weight loss too! Ummm I just looked outside and it's snowing! WOW... that's ... just ... great... Ahhh in other news, even with me eating crap lately the scale has started moving down again, so I'm happy that I can at least control my portions still and calories. well this post was all over the place! oh well :)

Holiday party

We finally had our holiday party for work. It was fabulous.  That's a size 12 dress I am wearing. Its a little loose but a 10 would have been too snug I think. And those are my very first pair of knee high boots!! I'm in love with dressing up now. I even told hubby we need to go to the comedy club or a nice dinner soon so I can wear this outfit again.

*Thanks all for the comments on this post and the previous one! I can't figure out how to flip the picture around! :(

New dress??

Thoughts?

2011 Wrap up and a start to 2012

Well, I know I only post every couple of weeks, I'm sorry! Life just gets crazy! So let's see. 2011 was a fabulous year. I had my surgery and lost 80 lbs! I'm quite happy with that so far! My husband and I bought our first house; super exciting! I got my promotion to Branch manager, well, I'm in the training program but not in my own branch yet, that happens in early 2012. Super exciting times! I also ran a 5k, which I have done a few in the past but it had been a couple of years since I had done one, so that's another exciting moment. 2102 is here now. I'm excited and ready! I'll get my own branch to manage. My one year follow up with my surgeon is quickly approaching! I plan on participating in the Danskin Triathlon in Seattle! WOO HOO!! 2012 will be a great year. My personal trainer and I decided that since I've been stuck for December hovering at 162 lbs, that here in January I need to do something to get back on track so I told her I'll log my food again Monday-Friday. Weekends are not usually the problem for me so I don't have to log on those days, but it is still something I should strive to do. Also, in January we will continue working on improving my running skills. I also need to get a Triathlon training plan figured out. The Tri is in August, right before my birthday, so this will be my birthday present to myself!! Most of the plans I've found so far are 8 week plans, ummm... Hello. That's short... My trainer and I are thinking more like 12 - 15 weeks. We'll see. If anyone knows any good triathlon training books leave me a comment, please!!!!! :) I'm open for suggestions! In other news --- I've been on vacation for a few days and last Thursday hubby and I took Tippie (our dog) to go hiking at St. Ed's, a state park we frequent because it's so close to home. So we were on our normal hike, this is about an hour hike. Tippie was holding up the back of the line, she was just leisurely walking sniffing things and eating blades of grass. Hubby commented on why is Tippie at the back of the line. Normally it's Tippie up front running ahead of us (we let her off leash out there) with hubby in the middle and me in the back. I've gotten to where I can keep up with hubby though, so that's nice, but still I usually hike a little slower than him, his legs are longer, so I have to work twice as hard to keep up and if he's walking fast to get a good workout in, then I'm really struggling, anyway though, back to the point. Tippie was walking behind us, but we didn't figure anything was wrong, we just thought she was tired because she was carrying her backpack which we put weights in to increase her workload. Tippie is one of those dogs that has a crap load of energy and needs a way to burn it off. We've trained her with a weighted backpack from a very young age. It's not a lot of weight, but just enough. So other than walking slow she was not limping or whimpering or anything else strange. Get to the car, let her in the back seat and reach around to take off her backpack and noticed she was bleeding. Yikes!! She wouldn't let us near her paws and of course, this is Seattle, it's rainy, therefore muddy, so couldn't clearly see her paws either as they were covered in mud. Couldn't figure out exactly what happened so we started driving to the vet's office and called them on the way to give them the heads up. Got there and I'm glad we went straight there cause her left rear claw was wiggling! It was loose. Yikes. The Vet squeezed us in for an exam between patients and said yes the claw was loose and he would need to sedate Tippie and remove it. We would need to leave her there as he was not sure when they would be able to work her in as he had appointments all afternoon, but assured us he would get her taken care of. By this time their floor was an absolute mess, I always feel bad, even though they assured me they would clean it, it happens all the time. We he got ready to walk her back to the room to sedate her so we could leave an when he put the leash on she wouldn't move... We looked down and there was the loose claw hanging out on the floor... Ruh-roh, it fell out. Doc said it was probably less painful for her that it came out on it's own, they would instead just go in and make sure it all came out and no pieces were left behind and clean it up, bandage her and call us when she was ready. Well, I take her back tomorrow to have the bandage removed and make sure it is healing okay, but woke up with morning to find the bandage had slipped almost all the way off... Great.... Called urgent care vet and they said if I brought her in it would be a full re-exam fee not just a bandage. They also said if it's not bleeding and doesn't look infected since I have an appointment for her regular vet tomorrow she might be okay with out the bandage so long as she doesn't lick at it or chew on it. Ugh! For now she's wearing a sock! hahaha i think I'll swing by the pet store and buy some of those booties, her vet was mentioning those are good during the healing process for her anyway. Oh well, right now she's sleeping on her chair peacefully so we'll see.