That's One Damn Fine Kitty!

A couple of weeks ago B and I were coming home from a dinner out with my aunt and my parents. It was rainy and dark outside. Upon pulling into the driveway and getting out of the car we heard squeaky "..meow, meow, meow..." sounds. Of course we had to investigate. We have 2 cats already that we adopted when we lived in Jacksonville. We fell in love with Sara, our first "child", at a Petsmart and then picked her up from an agency in Amelia Island because we knew we had to have her. We found Jaguar trying to cross a busy highway. She was dirty and scared. I had to study for an anatomy test that night so B ended being the one to give her a flea bath, play with her, feed her, and set up a litter box.

Because she was so skittish and hissy we ended up setting up a small area with boxes and a cat carrier. She could go in the cat carrier when she needed time to hide but she could also explore her small space until she learned to trust us enough to expand her territory. This also gave us an opportunity to introduce her to Sara,  who being Miss Alpha Cat, was not real happy to meet her at first.

A couple of years ago, when we moved back to Orlando, I found out that I am allergic to cats. I take over-the-counter pills these days to control my allergies but I still sneeze quite a bit. It's not a picnic but my kitties are my feline children and we're not about to give them up. However, when they do go to meet that giant cat nip God in the sky we will consider getting a dog.

So back to the mysterious "...meow, meow, meow..." we heard upon pulling into the driveway. We looked all around until B located a small, kitten in the engine of our neighbor's large SUV. The kitten was a sweet, calico but was very hissy and defensive. B got a glove and we got her out of the engine but she ran away as fast as she could. We tried to catch her but she was an extremely elusive little thing. I told B it didn't seem like she wanted to be caught and that she was probably a wild kitty. We gave up around 12 that night.

The next day I was off work and we woke up early to a high-pitched  "...meow, meow, meow" coming from our backyard. The rest of the day was frustrating. She would meow and we would try to catch her and then she would disappear into some bushes or something.  Finally, later that afternoon, B went for a round in the backyard and came back with the sweet little kitty!

B is experienced in stray kittens by now so we started the flea bath, made her a small area with boxes, and made her a small litter box that night. It's been 2 weeks and she is fluffy ball of energy. She loves to play and she trusts us a lot more than she did initially. We started calling her "Bubbles"  (a cat-loving character from the show "Trailer Park Boys" and that is where I got the title of this post...most of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about but it makes me chuckle and that's all that matters).

We're keeping her in the garage away from the big kitties for now.
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Who wants to adopt a kitten?

P.S. This is what happens to spoiled stray kittens:

She's well-fed and extremely domesticated. 

Sleep-Deprived Rant

I'm absolutely not in my right mind right now. This week I worked 50+ hours, covering for people with broken down cars and families in town visiting, and I doubt I got even 25 hours of sleep in the last 5 days or more. Anyways, I was listening to the radio on my way to work early this morning and I was learning about the Wall Street protesters. The media is calling them the "tea party" from "the left". Whatever. I totally agree with their "unfocused" message despite the labels. I work as a nurse and independent contractor for an agency where I do not get any overtime or any benefits AT ALL. I purchased my health insurance and set up my IRA privately. Why don't I get I new job, you say? I'm smart and capable. I graduated college summa cum laude from the University of Florida, but I want to be in a job where I love the work I do and I love caring for the elderly. I'm in the process of applying to nursing school with the hopes that I can get paid a fair wage and obtain benefits Eventually. Anywho...remember? SLEEP-DEPRIVED!

.........My point: The top 1% controls 43% of the financial wealth in America according to this article. I don't know how accurate these numbers are but what I do know is that in order to save for a house, wedding, and pay my monthly bills I have to work A LOT. Like an unreasonable amount. Like, a lot, lot. Many of you probably consider 50+ hours a week for a hourly rate a normal amount or...even a privilege. Better than no work at all, right?!

My fiance makes more money than me and gets benefits with his job but he works over forty hours a week and travels occasionally for work. This week, for instance, he got a call at the last minute, to book a flight and fly out-of-state all week leaving me with our 2 cats and the 1 stray kitten that we rescued (more on that later) for four days. But  my point is, doesn't anyone else feel like this is insane?!! Like we are working what's left of our asses off for not enough of anything?!

I stopped at ABC liquor on my way home from work today. I've worked 6 days in a row with 90% of those hours for a patient with Alzheimer's and today I was expecting to work 6 hours but worked 8 hours to cover for a coworker. So, I stopped at ABC liquor after depositing a paycheck that I almost forgot I even had, and purchased a bottle of red wine on the way home. After I got home, I was taking a bubble bath, surrounded by candles (that B had kindly arranged for me) because I was too overworked/high-strung to get the sleep that I desperately need, and a lady had stopped at my house to drop off MY WALLET!!!  I SWEAR I put my wallet on the passenger seat of my car as I was leaving the store. I remember seeing it. Well, maybe that was from before when I went to the bank. Anyways, this lady who was an attendant at ABC liquor, who probably makes only 10 bucks an hour, or whatever, at the liquor store, drove my WALLET with all my cards and contents in it to MY HOUSE and drops it off for me! The fiance says, "Thanks so very much!" which is nice, but I would love to give her $20 bucks or more and make her cookies because anyone could have taken that wallet and this lady who busts her ass all week long, just like me, decided she could go out of her way to bring my wallet back to me at my own home while I was drowning in a bubble bath with an over-sized glass of red wine. I'm patriotic because of people like her who do good deeds without expecting any type of reward, but I'm dissatisfied because caregivers of the elderly, store clerks, teachers, anyone else in the bottom 99%, does not get what they deserve.

My girlfriend is married to an Indian man. In the Indian culture, there is a caste system. If your father works in a restaurant, his child works in a restaurant, and so on and so forth for generations; there is no way to move up in the world. In America, you can move up and get that slice of American pie, but at what price? Can you ever get into that top 1% if you aren't born into it? I doubt it. Things need to change in America whether you are liberal, conservative, a member of the tea party, homosexual, a Christian, a Muslim whatever....

We deserve weekends, benefits, care for our elderly, nice houses, healthcare, and time with our families. We shouldn't be hopped up on coffee, working 40+ hours, not taking care of our own health, not sleeping, and act like THAT IS NORMAL. America, you shouldn't NEED to run on Dunkin. Life should be reasonable.

Just saying. I can't sleep.

I'm POed about it!!!

P.S. I will update more on our new car, engagement party, and stray kitten saving, either today or tomorrow depending on whether I can make my body turn off.

This is ludicrousness.

I'm still not asleep.

More wine......

Wedding Weekend 2011

This weekend was spent at a rehearsal dinner on Friday, 2 weddings on Saturday, and celebrating Father's day on Sunday. It was an amazing weekend but exhausting! Of course to add to that, I get to spend all afternoon/evening/night studying for a midterm after work today.

I pretty much grew up with the first bride that got married this weekend. My mom met her mom while they were walking us in strollers. Since then, we've had our ups and downs. I guess you can say we are more like sisters than friends. I gravitate towards a different crowd from her but we have our past in common and I have a great relationship with her family. About 2 weeks ago before the wedding I went to Las Vegas for the first time for her bachelorette party.

The bride and her little sister. I've known these girls since we were in diaper

At the pool at the Mandalay Bay.

All the girls. Too bad my head was torched by an angel.

This picture was from Friday night at the rehearsal dinner. We went to a restaurant in Celebration , FL.  Any time there is a wedding event it seems to rain cats and dogs. My mom called me before to see if I was still going and of course my answer was yes. She gets really worried when I drive on I-4. I'm used to it but she still worries because she wuvs me. Stop and go traffic the whole way there but I made it! B didn't go because he was still in Gainesville for a work dinner. He had the umbrella in his car...so I used a towel...classy stuff.  I don't know how I used to get ready without him. Do you know how hard it is to close a snap on the back of a dress alone? The food was good and the company was great. I'm glad I didn't let the storm or my dress stop me!

The next day I got up and did about a 4 mile trail walk. I'm doing this couch to 5k program here: http://bit.ly/tmVCH. Taking it one day at a time but so far, so good. Let's not jinx it! After the trail run I started to get ready. I took a shower but I was so hot and my hair was not cooperating! I ended up in tears and begged B to go get me bobby pins and hair spray. 

The before

The after

And this is why we need to buy a house...a bigger house:

So sick of getting ready in our one tiny bathroom. So then we were running late...because that  is what seems to happen at every wedding for us. B and I took notes since we are about to start planning for our own wedding. We will purposefully start late!

Pedal to the metal, hon!

And here comes the bride:

Married!

We stayed for appetizers and wine and then it was time to go to the next wedding. Luckily it was only fifteen minutes away but we had to hustle to get there in time. Like B's hat? It's his dad old hat from the 60s. It's growing on me...

The next wedding was for Brandon's friend from high school who has since become my good friend as well. She and her husband just graduated from medical school. Two MDs, yikes! I met her husband at the yearly Christmas party that we go to at the bride's parent's house and he is such a sweet guy. The wedding was Jewish but the groom is Vietnamese so there were also hints of Asian in the decor and the food. It was so beautiful!

Lovely. 

The ladies I did the sprinkler and the lawn mower with on the dance foor. Love these girls.

So sweet!

Stunning bride!!!

At each table setting there were medical duckies as party favors because that was what the groom used as a good luck charm for poker games.

We've so proud of them and hope to stay friends with this couple for life!

It was 12:07 when we left and we were exhausted!!! Such a great experience and we took notes for our own wedding the whole time. After my midterm, I will pick a wedding planner. I will!

Bust a Move

Things have slowed down to a pace that bugs me.

I went to a bachelorette party in Vegas and that was a blast but recently, I gotten "in trouble" for things I've said or done in several forms of social media so I'll just say this: imagine 5 girls in a hot tub drinking directly from a bottle of champagne. Of course, I would include a picture of all of the girls except me. Because I'm thoughtful like that..

On the house front, we've looked at houses for months now. We have a better idea of what we will be able to afford, what area we want to live in, and what short sales entail etc., but we have yet to make an offer. I keep reminding B that this will be our first house, not our last, but we are still taking our sweet, precious time. (Read: I want to pick one!)

I'm taking my last prereq for nursing online. It's a nutrition class. It's kind of apropos (am I using that word correctly?) that I'm taking this class since I've gotten into the South Beach diet again and pay more attention to what I eat...but I have weekly assignments due every Wednesday and the earliest I've gotten one done was 3:30am Wednesday morning. I think my procrastinating is partly because the class isn't difficult and partly because I feel like the world owes me for all the education I've gotten and not the other way around...I'm constantly working on not thinking this way and trying to remind myself that education is a privilege and even fun.

On the nursing application front-haven't done anything.

On the engagement party front....well, we booked the venue and we've tried some cupcakes we might like to have at the party...but no further decisions have been made.

On the wedding front...no wedding coordinators have been booked yet. This is for a combinations of reasons...my friend recommended a wedding planner to me but her wedding hasn't happened yet. I kind of want to see the wedding before I pick a planner. I also feel like I should lose more weight before I start wedding planning (never ending battle)...and I feel like we should have a house because I would like to get this monthly expense determined before we start putting money into a gigantic party. Also it's up to me to move things along so that's somewhat daunting and yet comforting at the same time.

On the job front: I'm proud of myself. I haven't taken a day off since I had to take a day off to go to the doctor in April. I really wanted to take one off after I got back from Vegas and before I left for Vegas (short timers syndrome) but nope, I've been there everyday...one consistent thing for me to be proud of!

So in short, things are kind of boring around here....until I start to make some moves. I am starting to feel a twitch coming on.

My Friendship Story

These past few weeks I've thought a lot about my friends. I've noticed that sadly most of my closest friends are peppered all around the country and I miss them so much! I've also noticed that the friends I have that do live in Orlando plan to or hope to, move as soon as possible. *Ugly crying*

A few weeks ago my friend Sara visited from New Mexico. Her grandmother, who I once visited with Sara in South Florida, passed away. Her grandmother on her mom's side was a Jewish lady from Brooklyn while her grandmother on her dad's side was a Southern Baptist from Texas....and this combination of families apparently results in a super, awesome Sara. I was very happy to get a few hours with Sarah but not happy that she had to fly in for her dear grandmother's funeral.

I met Sara through my ex-boyfriend in high school. We're talkin circa 2002 here. Both of them were on their separate schools' quiz bowl teams (although Sara's was called "Brain Bowl"). I immediately hit it off with Sara. She was one of the most confident, intelligent, open-minded, and silliest people I've ever met. Sara has always had a strong love for math and science (my weaker subjects) and she is mad good at both subjects. We both wanted to go to the University of Florida, but were both rejected our senior year. She decided to take gen ed requirements for her physics major at a community college while I decided to attend UCF and attempt to transfer to UF. I went on a tour of the University of Florida my senior year of high school and got my first Gator T-shirt. After several unsuccessful attempts to transfer I got mad at Florida and decided to give my shirt to Sara since she was able to transfer before I did. I completely forgot about that shirt until I saw it on her bed when I visited! Boy, I have grown out of that shirt big time.

After Sarah double majored in math and physics at UF (whew!), she decided that she wanted to be a patent lawyer and applied to several law schools in California where she had moved to be closer to her boyfriend at the time. Just like me, she didn't get into graduate school the first time she applied and instead applied to a nearby program  for Materials Engineering. Like me, she felt that her second choice career was a little more practical in today's world than her first option...and also that it would be a better fit for her. Now she is kicking butt and taking names, doing research and taking elective classes like "General Relativity" just because she thought it sounded interesting. Since we've been friends she's lived in Gainesville, Florida, California, and New Mexico and she's also been through several relationships in that time...many of which we spent a lot of time on  the phone dissecting. We have the type of friendship where no matter where we are in our lives or how long it's been since we've last spoken, we can pick up right where we once left off. And there have been tons of ups and downs in both our lives. It's a huge blessing to have someone who has known you forever as a constant.

Now, for the silliness that bides us. Sara's parents have these 2 huge golden retrievers with gigantic heads. I wish I knew what breed they are but their heads are the size of a horse. Whenever see those dogs I just can't. stop. staring. at. their. heads!! After taking a few pictures we decided it would be fun to emulate the dogs play-fighting in an action shot.

Don't judge. We're biting and hitting each other in mid-air. We're weird and proud.

I drove home quite a ways in the dark the night I went to see her, but it was totally worth it. She never ceases to inspire and amaze me with her hard work and confidence. That, and I feel totally comfortable around her.

This week, I decided I may devote each day to a small summary of one of my closest friends (as long as they allow it). For some reason, all of my friends are completely different... I fear if I were to put them all in the same room at once anarchy might break out and they might kill each other. This could present some friction at my wedding....but hopefully not because they love me and want me to have an awesome wedding. I get along with all of them on an individual basis and value their different character traits.

After I spend the proper amount of time singing the praises of my friends, I think I will have to do a post on my biggest difficulty right now. Because most of my friends are moving away or do not live here and because B and I will be buying I house here in Orlando, I need to expand my social circle to remain sane and happy. It's been hard for B and I to meet new people here and we are both busy with work a lot of the time. So far, I plan on attending the Reddit Orlando meetup group. I hope to meet all kinds of interesting people there. Other than that, I'm still brainstorming. Any suggestions? Prospects are looking a bit grim at the moment.

I Finally Found Something That Works!

On the show "Intervention", they say that cocaine addicts relapse seven times before they quit using completely. I feel the same way about losing weight. Except it's harder to quit, because you can never stop "using" completely. In the past I've tried the Adkins diet, exercising six days a week, the Triangle Diet, and South Beach diet. The only one that I've actually had success with in the past was South Beach diet. But....there were several problems with how I was doing it at the time. First, I was in post-bac and way too stressed with schoolwork to focus on a diet. Actually, it would have been easier to focus on, if I had known about the quick and easy foods you can eat. Recently, my patient's wife, who is a huge South Beacher gave me lots of tips and showed me how to make it easy and realistic. So far, I've lot 15 pounds and while I feel like I still have several challenging aspects to work on, I feel totally confident that I can reach my goals!

Honestly,if you ever plan on doing the South Beach diet, it would behoove you to buy the South Beach diet book so that you can learn about carbohydrates and fiber and how your body breaks down food. But, if you have a basic understanding of the South Beach Diet the next best, quick and easy thing I would recommend doing is buying this small, around-5-bucks-book called, The South Beach Diet Good Carbs Bad Carbs Guide. It's basically a list of different types of food with the glycemic index and whether each food is "good", "bad", or "use sparingly".  For instance, I hardly ever touch white flour bread anymore but I still eat delicious rye bread because of the lower glycemic index. I love this book because it's a quick and easy reference.

In the first phase of South Beach, you only eat vegetables, meat, cheese, and eggs. No fruit, alcohol, or bread. I did this with a few slight modifications. I had one piece of Arnold Real Jewish Seedless Thin Sliced Rye Bread a day. It only has 10 carbohydrates per piece and 55 calories. Also,  a couples times I accidentally ate Old Fashioned Oatmeal which is not allowed until phase 2 because only a half cup of it has 27 grams of carbohydrates! Opps. I had coffee and diet drinks...hey, a girl's got to live! I had to remember to read nutrition facts for carbs on everything. The great thing about phase one is that it only lasts two weeks and you eat until you are no longer hungry. No carb or calorie counting just aiming for low carb. What it does is even out your blood sugar and fixes your insulin levels until you no longer crave things anymore. I don't crave chocolate like I used to or pasta, bread, or sweet treats. Here are some of the easy and quick foods that I ate:


Every morning for breakfast in phase 1, I would have some type of eggs. Eggbeaters with some cheddar cheese grated on top if I was in a hurry or an elaborate omelet on weekends. I'd have 2 slices of turkey bacon, Spicy hot V8, and if I had time coffee with 2 splendas and no cream (not a cream fan anyways). Yes, eggs are high in cholesterol but they also have the good kind of protein and lots of amino acids...and they fill you up. I know what you are thinking about cheese...high in fat. South Beach recommends that you eat low-fat cheese. However, the South Beach book also tells you that if you eat "low-fat" foods the number of carbohydrates go up. So, I ate regular cheese. After 2 weeks, I was definitely sick of eggs but I lost 10 pounds so it was worth it.

For a morning snack I would have a string cheese if I was hungry. For lunch, I would have a piece of the melba bread toasted with tuna salad on top. I put regular Hellman's mayonnaise, white onions, a little sweet relish, and mustard into the tuna salad. I learned to have lots of fun with condiments but stayed away from ketchup because of the high glycemic index. I sometimes had a small grilled cheese with one slice of bread or a chef salad with veggies, meats, and cheeses. If I could stand to have another egg I'd have an egg salad sandwich. Everyday for "lunch dessert" I would have sugarfree jello with a couple tablespoons of Lite Cool Whip on top because it filled me up and cured my sweet tooth.

After I got home from work I would drink Crystal Bay because it's carbonated, sweet, and yummy. If I was hungry I might have celery with Smuckers Natural Peanut butter, which has less sugar than regular peanut butter.

For dinner, I would have whatever meat we were having and load up on the veggies on the side. I love salads, baked asparagus with olive oil, and sauteed veggies. For dessert, I would have breakstone's low fat cottage cheese with 1 splenda and then either put cut up grapes or a few sliced almonds on top. You can also add vanilla extract and it tastes like vanilla ice cream (sorta). I liked to sprinkle cinnamon on it as well. If I was desperate for a chocolate fix I would have a fudgsicle with no sugar added.

I love focusing on what I can eat and not what I can't eat and simplifying what I eat...because I  work and don't have any time to cook up an elaborate meal everyday.

Now that I'm in phase 2 breakfast is much more interesting. I'll have smuckers peanut butter on melba bread with an apple, a thin sliced 100% whole wheat bagel with cream cheese, old fashioned oatmeal with splenda and cinnamon, or back to my regular eggs. I started sucking on coffee and chocolate favored Nips to cure my sweet tooth. Everything else is sort of the same except I count calories  on livestrong now since I have more liberties in my diet ,"cheat" more often, and try to get to the gym more. I'll have a glass of Merlot or a light beer occasionally. Weightloss is much slower in this phase and I find that you are constantly tweaking your diet to see what works.  If 3 slices of bread a day make you gain a pound over a week, you cut it down to 2 slices the next week.

Although I've lost 15 pounds, I still have 35 pounds left to go. I'm still overweight, but I feel like I can stick with this because I'm satisfied and not hungry. There are still a few challenging things that I am working on. When I'm hormonal, emotional, or overly tired I tend to stray from my diet. Recently, it was that time of the month...the next week was Easter, I worked an overnight shift, and then I got into a huge argument with a friend. So, I decided I have to always have satisfying, easy access things in my refrigerator for those occasions. Next time of the month, I will definitely be prepared and have a stocked kitchen.

I absolutely love this blog Slimming Down for the Gown, because she documents her weight on the blog and  shows pictures of what her body looks like after every ten pounds of weightloss. She is also engaged and trying to look fab on her wedding day just like me. I decided I will not post pictures of my body on my blog. I'm a pretty transparent person and would do the same thing as her but I'm worried I will end up as the "before" picture on a diet website somewhere. So I decided that I will post pictures of the next best thing. My chin. My chin is one of the best indicators of how fat I am.

Before: Check out that quadruple chin, baby yeah!

After: More of a double chin now....less scary!

I'm a tall girl, 5'8, and I've never been a small person.I have large, German thighs and a curvy figure. In middle school, this boy in my math class used to call me an Amazonian. In undergraduate school, I gained about 20-25 pound. I was no longer in sports like cross country and swimming like I was in high school and I spent most a lot of time studying and not moving. In post-bac, I partied a little too hard on the weekends and gained another 25 pounds. I'm now engaged and I'm ready to be happy with my body again and look amazing on my wedding day. I'm so close to going down one dress size! Even though I lost 15 pounds, I'm a pear and most of the weight is on my lower half (badunka dunk..) so I still can't squeeze my butt into a lower-sized jean. I should be able to after I lose another 5-10 pounds. I'm so ready and I can't wait to make it to the gym tomorrow morning!

Writing this entry has allowed me to reflect on my progress and look forward to more weight loss. I feel like I just set the reset button.