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.