Can you wear spanx to the gym?

I will admit, I hibernated this winter...big time. Everything, including my weight, is at an all time high. Which I was totally ok with, until the temperatures start to rise and I have tee shirt and short season growling at me from around the corner! 

I blame my hibernation on my mirrors. I can only see my body from the high waist up in my mirrors. So when we went out of town and the mirrors were lower and showed more of my body, all I could say was DEAR GOD!!! I don't think its ok for my butt to touch the back of my knees and I KNOW I am not 5 months pregnant, but both of those things could be assumed by looking in that mirror!

Jason is a regular worker outer. He joined a new gym in our town which happens to be three minutes away (by car) and has an indoor track. When I say "he" joined the gym, he actually got a family membership. Well, after seeing my sagging body in the mirror, I decided something needed to be done and began walking at the gym.

The first night I went, I threw on whatever and headed over to "work out."  I started my walk with my baggy sweat pants and tee shirt along with Jason's over the ear ear-buds. 

 

Subtle huh. 

Well, when at the gym, I can't help but look at everyone else and suddenly noticed EVERYONE had on those tight workout/yoga pants. 

I suddenly became very conscious of my baggie sweats and my nervousness of "standing out" flared it's ugly head and my brain kicked into "must conform" mode. No, I didn't pinch roll my sweats, but I did go shopping the next day.

Yea, not everyone can or should (me being one of those people) wear those tight pants and I just don't understand the fashion. But my conforming brain told me to try it! After trying on many pairs and lots of "Are you kidding me" and "Seriously!" while looking into the mirror, I settled on this pair from Nike.

 

Aren't they cute? Ya, because this girl is size 0!! 

So, the day came when I decided to wear these to the gym. I put on my tight tights and then panicked because, "Do you wear underwear under these? That will give me a pantie line! But if I don't wear undies, that is just going to show too much information!!" So, underwear was worn.

Now for the top. All those cute, fun colors of tops that look so great to wear? NOT!!!

 

These tops show every roll and bump. When I tried one of these tops on I said, "Absolutely not!" My muffin top was very accentuated.  I am sure by this time I had scared the other customers that happen to be walking past my dressing room while I was talking to myself. The only way I was going to wear a top like that, was to wear Spanx. A full body Spanx unit was needed. 

 

Just a little number like this one.

Then I thought, why don't I just buy one of these body suits to wear every day and I wouldn't even have to go to the gym!

Done.

March Mad...

I don't know about you, but our NCAA brackets are a bust.

Over a healthy pop tart breakfast, Jack was studying the brackets we filled out.

 

So, buddy. How are we doing?

I think the look speaks for itself.

Rocky!!

There is an amazing stair case on the Plaza, in Kansas City, between a couple of stores. The boys love to run up and down! Well, not to make it sound like they run up and down all day...just twice. But two more times than I could do!!

The trick is to get a picture without getting a pedestrian in the shot!

The pedestrian went to the H&M store off to the right, so there wasn't anyone in this shot!! Success!!

Sam made it to the top, but unfortunately a gentleman in a yellow sweater was approaching. He started his "Rocky" dance, but immediately stopped when he saw he had a small audience.

This gentleman stood at the top of the stairs for about a minute before starting to walk down . It cracked me up because Sam is doing his rocky dance way behind the guy!!

Both boys were dancing by this time and I think the gentleman was wondering why I was taking pictures!!

 If he only knew what was going on behind him!

Little Bits of Moose Reminders...

Moose has been gone a little over a week and I still expect her to come around the corner, hear her walking across the floor to my room or barking to come inside. I still miss her terribly, but I am able to talk about her without crying...for the most part. :)

I do want to thank everyone who shared their story of losing their furry family friend, who sent cards, listened to me and checked in how we where doing. We all really appreciate the thoughts and kind words!  It has honestly made it a bit easier.

There are still times when Moose shows up unexpectedly....

While sweeping the hard wood floors, suddenly a Moose tumbleweed will roll across the floor!

On my grocery list, I had written "milk bones."

I found Moose's squeaky platypus among Jack's stuffed monkeys on his bed. I realized he has been sleeping with the squeaky toy. The platypus also made the trip to Kansas City!!

While saying goodnight to Sam, I spotted another Moose toy. This one was on Sam's book shelf right beside his bed. 

 The Friday after I said good bye to Moose, I was in a slump. I went ahead with my "routine" for the day. Jack stayed home because he had an upset tummy...I think all the emotions with Moose caught up with him.  I ate my breakfast, which is cereal in the morning, and went on my way.  When I came back to make some lunch for Jack, I noticed I had put my cereal bowl with the rest of my milk, beside Moose's water bowl.

  I did that for her every morning for the last 4 years and I did it again for her...one last time. 

 A dear friend and her family gave us this plaque. I haven't decided if it will stay inside or be outside with Moose. Since we don't live in city limits, we can bury Moose in our yard. (Her ashes.) Another person suggested to plant a Dogwood Tree where Moose will be buried and offered to help me pick one out.

 Moose's friend Esther and her family gave me this bracelet that I will treasure for years. Inside the bracelet she had it engraved, "Dogs put paw prints on our hearts, Moose 3/5/15"

I can't thank everyone again for being so kind. I cannot express how much it has meant to me and our family. Thank you.

Kansas City Day 2...

 We woke up to BEAUTIFUL weather on Saturday in KC and headed down to the Plaza. But, first a walk down memory lane!

 Jason lived on the plaza, for three years, before we got married. His first apartment was a studio apartment, which is now a Courtyard Marriott...which we stayed at this weekend! We decided to go find his old apartment and get a quick picture of his old stomping grounds. 

We stopped at the lucky boar statue and rubbed his nose for some ISU good luck at the championship game!

 These boys are amazingly good shoppers!  They entertain themselves or play on their phones.

We had lunch at one of our frequented places when Jason lived in KC, Fred P. Otts.  We LOVE the chips and dips and shared old stories with the boys.

Inside Fred P. Otts!

A little dive hamburger joint on the Plaza!

After some Plaza shopping and walking, we headed back to our room to watch the ISU game. Jason and Sam headed to the Sprint Center to see if they could get some last minute "cheap" tickets for the ISU vs. Kansas. game. Jack wasn't thrilled about going, so I stayed with him at the room. That worked out well..I get too nervous to watch and need to keep busy!

ANOTHER nail biter game and ANOTHER win for ISU!! Jack and I received this picture shortly after the game was won!

The game was at 5:00, so we had enough time to head to our favorite Mexican restaurant after Sam and Jason got back form the game. While Jack watched for Sam and Jason, he enjoyed some people watching from our hotel window. 

Another fabulous weekend in KC with successful shopping, beautiful weather and an amazing ISU Big 12 Championship win!! 

Hello, Again!!

Well, hello there! I went on a little unexpected hiatus! And now I'm back!! Last week went by super fast, went out of town this weekend and the next thing I knew it was already Monday!  

Let me share a little about our weekend...we headed back to Kansas City, which has become our annual Spring Break destination! (Lucky Boys!!)  We headed down on Friday and came back on Sunday. We needed a change of scenery and craved some warm weather where the boys (all three) could wear short once again. Oh...and if we happened to get tickets to the Iowa State games, that would just be an extra bonus!!

Jack decided that he needed to wear some comfy socks on the way down to KC! "Oh, my," was the reaction of the older boys. 

While in KC, we did a little shopping...well, a lot of shopping. I also, discovered that Sam LOVES shoes!! He is great at saying, "Do you mind if I go look at shoes while you guys...."

He LOVED this pair of shoes!!

 These were ok.

 He tried on some comfy high-tops.

"How about these, Mom?"

 And he couldn't pass up trying on a pair of Chuck Taylors.

 We stopped at a fountain, threw in coins and made a couple of wishes. Hope they wished for an ISU win!!

We ate dinner and hung out at Dave and Buster's to wathc the Kansas vs. Baylor game, while the boys played video games.  We then headed back to our hotel room to watch the ISU vs. Oklahoma game. Another nail biter, but we came away with the win!!

I guess wishes can came true!!

More about our trip later this week!!

Happy Birthday, Jason!!

Just wanted to wish Jason a 

Happy Birthday!

I could go on and on what this guy means to me and my boys, but I won't put you all through that mushy stuff! 

So, I will just say it again, Happy Birthday, Jason!!

Moose

I am writing this through tears, so please excuse if my words don't come out right or if I share too much - or for misspellings.

Ten days ago I took Moose to the vet to get her yearly shots and mentioned to the vet that her appetite had been on and off. He checked her out and decided that he should take some x-rays of her stomach. Unfortunately, he found a tumor the size of a coconut in her abdomen on the left side. The tumor had probably taken over her spleen and most likely had gone into her liver and other parts of her body. The only way to confirm this would be to do an ultrasound.  If the ultra sound showed that the cancer had not spread, then we could do surgery, which the vet shared is very invasive and not an easy surgery or recovery for someone at an advanced age, such as Moose. We decided that putting Moose through all of that wouldn't be fair to her. Her recovery from her leg surgery was not easy and she was much younger! :)

 So, we decided the best thing to do was to bring her home  and when her bad days outnumber her good days, we would know it was time to say good-bye.  The vet couldn't tell us how much longer she would be with us. It could be days, which I was in denial of, or a month.  He did say that her abdominal cancer was terminal and this would most likely be her cause of passing. Worse case scenario, the tumor would start to leak and she would have internal bleeding. He warned us that would be painful and he wouldn't want that for us, but most importantly not for Moose.

That night, we shared the news with the boys. Sam sobbed. Jack cried and said we need to celebrate her life. We decided to create a bucket list for Moose and begin right away.

That weekend she had a great couple of days and you would have never known she was sick. She ate breakfast and dinner, barked at the deer (but not chasing them) carried something in her mouth at all times, got up and followed us around (she has been on and off with this too) and when someone was in the kitchen, she was under foot.

Pancakes for breakfast. 

She found her Mr. Hippo and carried him wherever she went.

She got to lay on the couch, cuddle and watch TV!

"I can't believe you have been keeping this wonderful thing from me all these years!"

 

One of the boys threw a sleeping bag on the floor and Moose took it over...just like the old days!! She was very proud of herself!!

After her fun filled weekend, she was worn out. Looking back, I think it was her last rally. Her appetite started to wain again and she slept more and more. I was home those three days and gave her my undivided attention during the day. I noticed while I was eating my lunch or breakfast, she would start by my side waiting for a treat, but would soon need to lay down.

I came home from work on Thursday afternoon and she hadn't eaten all day, so I browned some hamburger. When I gave it to her, she refused to eat. The vet had said whatever she wants to eat is fine, because, if she eats, she will stay with us longer. I was desperate, so I warmed up some left over mac and cheese (she had eaten a couple of cheese raviolis the night before.) I started hand feeding it to her and noticed her tongue was very pale. I called the vet and they said to bring her in right away.

That was gut wrenching. I just knew. I had to warn the boys and this was not a proud parent moment. I went upstairs and told them I needed to take Moose to the vet and I don't know if she will come back. That was NOT the way to break it to the boys, but I had to get her to the vet. (I called at 5:15 and when the secretary told me to bring her up, I asked, "NOW?" And she replied, "Well, we close at 6.")  Understandably, the boys panicked and I tried to make it as easy as I could for them. I told them I would do everything in my power to bring her home, but to remember we do not want her to be in pain.  I, too, was not ready for this.

Before I left, they asked for me to take their picture with her. Sam is so trying to keep it together. *sniff*

(Jack had a Dr. Seuss day...hence the green bowler hat.)

This is the first picture the boys had together with Moose.

"Mom, would you like a picture with her?"

 My first picture with Moose.

When I got to the vet, they put her on the scale (she had actually gained two pounds in 6 days!  It must have been my amazing cooking!) Moose always jumps right on the scale, but tonight I actually had to help her. She just didn't have any energy. We walked into a room and she immediately laid down and just wagged her tail when someone would come into the room. Not her usual hearty greeting.

 The vet came in, checked her out and said due to the color of her tongue (which can be a sign of internal bleeding), the tumor or spleen was probably bleeding and she would most likely not make it through the night. Worse-case scenario had become our reality. Looking back, I think Moose knew I didn't want to make the decision of "when it was time" and she made the decision for me.

At this time, my sister and shortly after, Jason came into the room. We talked with her and said our good-byes. The vet brought in a big comfy blanket for her to lay on. Then it was time. Her blood pressure was so low, that they couldn't get a vein to pop up right away, which reinforced how sick she was at that time. She just laid there while I held her head and suddenly, she went to sleep and I went into ugly cry. The vet gave us time to be with her. After a bit, I asked Jason and my sister to leave so I could have for some alone time with her. I talked with her, cried on her and said good-bye. It was so hard. I didn't want to leave her. 

As I headed home, I knew I had to tell the boys, which I knew would be gut wrenching. Each reacted in their own manner, which I won't share without checking with them. That is their story. 

When I got home, my mom was there. She had come to hang out with the boys. While talking with her, I noticed Mr. Hippo on the step by the door. Moose would lay him there every time she went outside and then pick him up when she came back in.  

He is still laying there. 

Rest in peace our dear Moose.