annemariedemyen

Week 25 -More Challenges

August 8, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in August 2022, Health and Fitness

I have been working out and getting fit for twenty five weeks now. I started out in February hoping that if I put a bit of effort into it that, by spring (in Saskatchewan), I would feel a bit better, breathe a bit easier, and have a bit more strength and stamina. I can’t believe how that bit of effort has paid off.

This morning, like every morning Monday to through Saturday, I got up, washed down my B12, Vitamin D, and Lutein with half a cup of coffee and did my Advair inhaler for my asthma. This was followed by my breakfast, which this morning was a bowl of cereal. Next, I spent half an hour organizing Molly’s walking kit and getting her into her harness and myself into my sneakers and jacket. Then we headed out for a 1.5 mile walk. (That is not a record for us, but I do not want to push Molly too hard until she is used to her new training harness.)

We got home, Molly got her good girl treat and I took my Spiriva inhaler for my COPD and my bronchiectasis and followed that up with six ounces of beet juice. (Which I make a litre at a time from Salus Beetroot Crystals, the juice of one lemon and one teaspoon of ginger, plus filtered water). After a short rest, I did my favourite You Tube exercise video.

Now I am ready to move on with my day, being better, stronger and breathing easier than I ever have. The benefits of that bit of effort never cease to amaze me.

But, like everything else in my life, I have my challenges working out and getting fit.

This weekend I took Molly across the street to the ball diamonds to work with her and her new harness and I got attacked by mosquitoes – lots of mosquitoes! I was wearing yoga pants and the beggars bit right through them. My legs are covered with bites. I could not sleep on Saturday night so I took an antihistamine hoping that would ease the burning and itching, since nothing else had. The antihistamine did nothing for the bites but it did make me groggy and fogheaded, and feeling weak all day Sunday. I was able to get out for a short walk with Molly but the rest of the day was a write off. Last night, I went to make supper and found that I had wrenched something in my left arm (somehow?) and I could not lift a small pot of noodles to serve them out. My arm and back muscles are stronger than they have ever been, but one little tweak and it was gone. Rediculous! And so unfair! Life should not be so challenging when one is really trying to make it better!

Except… I need challenges – I need physical and mental and emotional and spiritual challenges. It is the challenges that make me better and stronger. If my fitness journey was too easy, I would start slacking off, going through the motions, until I drifted back to my old ways. Inevitably I would be back in my rocking chair, wrapped in a blanket and feeling weak and miserable.

So… Bring it on life. Bring the benefits and the challenges because while the benefits are a nice incentive, it is the challenges that really push me further and higher than I could possibly imagine.

PS – I finally came across a bit of advice from The Farmer’s Almanac that soothed my mosquito bites. Wet an antacid tablet (like Tums or Rolaids) and rub it on the bites. I have no idea who first thought “Let’s try this!” but it works. As for my arm, Who knows? but no noodles for supper tonight. They would be wierd on Taco Salad anyway.

That is it for today and for this week’s fitness update. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞

Our Girl Molly

August 7, 2022August 7, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in August 2022

It seems like it has been a while since my last Molly update, and since she is coming up on her six months birthdate, this seemed as good a time as ever.

The big news this week is that I got and started using Molly’s new training harness for our walks.

***The face piece attaches to a collar and both pieces attach to her regular collar.***

I did not like the idea of using anything that looked like a muzzle but it seems okay. We have only used it twice. She seems to be getting used to it and forgets she has it on at times. I have been using the clicker and giving her lots of treats to keep her motivated. It does seem to help a lot as far as keeping her at a manageable pace and walking nicely. It doesn’t really help her avoid distractions like barking dogs or free range cats, but mostly she just sits down and refuses to budge when we encounter anything that grabs her attention. We will see how it goes!

Molly has found her voice but I don’t find it that much of an issue. Her bark is really low-pitched and she doesn’t go on and on – or even use it all that often. In our yard she is fairly laid back.

She LOVES company and was in her glory when granddaughter Genie came by on Tuesday morning and then came back yesterday morning – with her fiance Alec.

It is funny how dogs come into our lives with perfect timing.

Casey was the first dog that Dan and I adopted together. She was so beautiful, so smart, and so empathetic. She was the perfect dog for us at a time when my aging Mother spent a lot of time with us and when we had young grandchildren here on a regular basis. She was the most devoted care giver and protector – to Mom, our grandbabies, and to our little blind cat, Suzie.

With Casey aging, we brought home Kat. She was never as responsible or serious as Casey but she made an adorable companion for our growing grandchildren, a great walking partner for me at a time when I was struggling with health issues, and a perfect travelling companion for Dan and I. She was such a sweet little dog.

After losing our little Kat so suddenly and tragically from congenital heart failure this spring, I was not anxious to have another dog in the house. I didn’t know if I would ever be ready to take on another such loss after Casey and Kat. Then… Dan suggested I needed the companionship and security when he was at work. I started poking around the want ads looking for a midsize dog – nothing as ‘vulnerable’ as Kat was. Just a good healthy dog.

I saw an ad for Molly and she just seemed right. She was destined to be MUCH bigger than Dan had in mind but I had been looking at sheep dogs for a long time and they have a reputation for being good, solid, easy going dogs. And Molly was so cute!

So Molly it was, and at a time when my priority is my health and fitness Molly is perfect. She is my inspiration to get up every morning, get active, and keep active. She is the epitome of affection and entertainment. She is a bit of a challenge at times but she fits our current lifestyle amazingly well. I look forward to many years ahead with her and seeing how far we can go together. The potential is unfathomable. 😊

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞

Strong Women 🌹

August 6, 2022August 6, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in August 2022, Health and Fitness

This one is for all the women in my life – especially the young women just starting out, or the older ones just starting over – a new job, a new relationship, a new lifestyle, a new life. Whatever the case, this is for us.

***“Strong women don’t have attitudes, we have standards”. – Marilyn Munroe***

***“The question isn’t “Who’s going to let me?” It’s “Who’s going to stop me?”*** ***– Ayn Rand***

***” Don’t let anyone speak for you and don’t rely on others to fight for you”. – Michelle Obama***

***“Above all, be the heroine of your story, not the victim.” – Nora Ephron***

***“A strong woman stands up for herself. A stronger woman stands up for everyone else.” – Unknown***

***“A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey, a woman of strength knows it is in the journey that she will become strong.” –*** **Luke Easter**

**“The strongest actions for a woman is to love herself, be herself, and shine amongst those who never believed she could. ” – Unknown**

**And finally… ” It’s your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.” – Rumi**

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞

Bits and Pieces

August 3, 2022August 3, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in August 2022

I just have a couple of bits and pieces to share today. 😉

First up – Over the past few days, Dan and I have celebrated my birthday and our wedding anniversary. As always, my sister Elaine was thoughtful enough to send us beautiful handcrafted cards to mark the occasions.

**My photography does not do them justice. The needlepoint images are padded and both are exquisite! 💞**

Secondly – I promised then and now photos of Genie with Molly.

**Then – Two months ago when Genie was leaving on the first leg of her summer adventure.**

**Now – Molly is quite a bit bigger and Genie is actually quite a bit smaller (thinner) than she was when** ***she*** ***left.***

**Molly was determined to let Genie know how much she missed her.**

That is it for today. A beautiful sunny day out so I should get Molly fed and get outside to do a bit of yardwork before it gets too warm.

Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞

Congratulations!

August 2, 2022August 2, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in August 2022

Celebrating a special young couple today. Our granddaughter Genie (Genevieve) and her boyfriend Alec (Ben) are officially engaged! They are such a sweet, responsible, caring, special couple – we couldn’t be happier for the both of them. From the beginning, through thick and thin, they have always been – meant to be.

It’s a Love Story – THEY BOTH SAID YES!

That is it for our big news for the day. Congratulations to both of you! Thank you, Denise for raising a very special young man and for all that you have done, and do for the two of them.

Week 24 To Health and Fitness

August 1, 2022August 1, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in Health and Fitness, July 2022

I persevered through another week on my mission to health and fitness. This week has become another turning point in my journey – mostly in a good way but I do have a bit of a challenge going.

Starting with the POSITIVE – my physical and emotional health are definitely going well. We have been getting a lot of heat and rain so very humid (for us). Despite that… I have managed to keep up with my daily walks with Molly and my daily You Tube work outs. The workouts run 30-45 minutes and I can work through them without a single pause.

This is the one I did today. It is one of the videos that I have been using regularly lately. 🤗

Molly is still having her difficult days on our walks and today was no exception. I am expecting a package from Amazon today which includes a new training harness for her. I sure hope it helps settle her down a bit!

I did clear out some clothes in my closet that has gotten to be too large for me now. That has to be a good sign and I am sure happy to see it happening! ☺️

I am noticing a definite shift away from just pushing myself through workouts, walks, salads, and cold showers. I still do all of those things but now those things are a natural part of an overall active and healthy lifestyle. I am still excited about getting fit – and my goals are going beyond myself to others –

Being able to provide Molly with the active lifestyle she deserves
Being a stronger, healthier partner for Dan
Being a better role model for our grandkids
Being more active and outgoing in our neighbourhood
Being an inspiration to others who are toying with the idea of adopting a healthier lifestyle
AND something that has become increasingly important to me – Doing everything I can to avoid being an unnecessary burden to our already overburdened Health Care Services. Even without my chronic health issues, I think that is so necessary.

The NEGATIVE this week is that I am finding myself dealing with a mental meltdown of sorts.

I have been on this journey for five and a half months. I have been more than happy with how it has been going and the results I have been seeing. Whoo hoo! Yay me!

But during the past few days, I have been finding myself interacting with likeminded souls. I have met a number of people in our local parks – one here, one there, walking their dogs, jogging, on their bikes and I have joined a small group of fitness conscious individuals online. This should all be great! They are all friendly, amazing people working towards a common goal.

But here’s the thing. My mind is suddenly flashing back to high school phys-ed classes. My Saskatchewan highschool phys-ed classes of the early seventies were NOT about physical fitness or developing a healthy lifestyle. They were about discovering the next hockey or football star or the next Olympic athlete. They were about competitions between teenagers who were not even close to being on a level playing field but being judged by who could run faster or jump higher or throw a ball further. They were about winners who were given trophies and medals and losers who were abused mentally, emotionally, and physically.

I know, this is bizarre and rediculous. I am sixty-seven years old. I have done things in my life – big things – major accomplishments. I should have the confidence and capability to see someone who can outperform me physically without coming unglued. But here I am…. judging myself and finding myself lacking. 🙄

The good thing is, I know it is just one more challenge to face and overcome. Just like the physical challenges that I have pushed through and the emotional challenges that I have pushed through, I know I can and will push through this and come out all the better off for doing so. Hopefully sooner than later. 🙂

That’s it for today and this week’s fitness update. Take care and have a great day!💞🌞

It’s SUNDAY!

July 31, 2022July 31, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in July 2022

It is another beautiful Sunday morning in southern Saskatchewan. 🌞

Molly and I went for our early morning walk. We crossed paths with Bike Lady and her two dogs. She stopped to have a short chat before going on her way. Following her, we met up with another woman walking Myles from Mexico. Molly and Myles checked each other out while Donna (?) And I chatted. In the overall scheme of things, Molly did fairly well until we came to the tail end of our walk. Obviously, she had been saving up all of her bad behaviour because she was pretty darned obnoxious on the homestretch. It didn’t help that we had to pass at least a dozen yard dogs and they were all having a go at setting her off.

Other news for the day? Dan and I are celebrating our twenty-third anniversary today. It seems incredible that it has already been twenty-three years and amazing that so much could have happened in only twenty-three years.

***With Dan’s Dad (d. 2003) and my Mom (d. 2013)***.

And… I had my Sunday morning chat with granddaughter Genie. TBH we had today’s chat yesterday. She was so excited about her boyfriend Alec going up to Edmonton today to drive home with her tomorrow, that she got her days mixed up. It is so funny… It seems like yesterday that she was a sweet little tot bursting with love, joy, and excitement. Yet here she is, all grown up (and despite all she has been through) – sweet as ever and still bursting with love, joy, and excitement. 💞🤗

She sent me an assortment of photos to share today. I hope you enjoy!

***Checking out special Midway visitors…***

***Spiderman on the double decker merry-go-round!***

***Genie’s animal friends for the week seemed to be the slippery, slithery, reptile sort.***

***She must have been reminded of Bubbles – the turtle she grew up with. 💞***

***And finally she shared a couple of her sister Maddy’s latest adorable creations.*** 💕🤗

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day!💞

Win Some, Lose Some

July 29, 2022July 29, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in July 2022

Molly and I completed yet another walk this morning. It was not as challenging as yesterday’s but it is still a work in progress.

We went to the ball diamonds first and that was not too bad. Molly tried to grab the leash a few times and leap up on me when I refused to wrestle her for it. Because I had solid fencing for support, I was able to maintain balance and ignore her until she decided to give it up (at least for today). She turned her attention to any litter she found, but lost interest in that soon enough. She did find a couple of empty pop bottles that entertained her for a while. Finally, she discovered that the grass was alive with grasshoppers and butterflies. She did catch a grasshopper but the butterflies managed to elude her. Maybe if she hadn’t been dragging me along on her leash…. Anyway, once she tired of chasing insects and checking out weeds, I led her over to a big puddle of fresh rainwater where she enjoyed splashing around and quenching her thirst.

From the ball diamonds, we headed over to Regent Park. On the way we crossed paths with Bike Lady and her two small dogs and a young man exiting the park. Fortunately, I had my new secret weapon with me..

***A clicker and a treat work like a charm for getting and holding Molly’s attention.***

We made it through Regent without any incidents or unruly behaviour, despite coming across a woman with a small child and several trees and boulders that were calling out for Molly’s attention. We even made it home and past a few yard dogs no worse for wear.

So Molly was the win today! I am not trying to break her spirit. My goal is just to get her to a place where I am confident that we are both safe and that she has the social graces to wander further afield – to bigger, busier city parks and to country trails around Regina. That would be great!

Now for the Loss… We got home and Molly settled down. I had my breakfast and my beet juice, and relaxed for a bit. Then I set out to do my daily workout. I got cocky and started to think how great I was doing. I have been keeping up with these Monday through Saturday workouts for months AND seeing every one of them through to the end, even on ‘bad’ days. Yay! Then I did it. I swung my arm out and smoked a Hornet with one of my fingers. He/she did not appreciate the smack.

My finger felt like it had been jabbed with a red hot needle and my hand started to tingle. I considered working through the pain but decided it might be better to slather some Benadryl on it and take a break. The pain is not as sharp as it was, but my hand is still sore so will see how this goes.

Other than that my only news worth noting was a text from granddaughter Prim and a new picture from her yesterday.

***Another budding artist in the family.***

Up until a few years ago, Prim and her sister Maddy spent a lot of time here with Dan and I. Other than swimming, their favourite pastime was Arts & Crafts. It is so funny that now, they have totally swapped their artistic styles. Maddy is all about delicate and detailed, while Prim is big and bold. The total opposite of what they were.

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🤗

Cats, Crows, and Crazy Pups

July 28, 2022July 28, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in July 2022

Molly and I went for our walk this morning and not to brag or anything, but it was an EPIC fail.

We did not get halfway to the Regent Park before we crossed paths with THREE free range cats. These beggars are big and cocky. Before we got back home, we came across two more. It is not what I need when I am holding onto a pumped up pup who was just looking for a rumble this morning.

**She may look all meek and mild but she was running on all cylinders this morning.**

We managed to get through the first park of the day none to worse for wear. Well except for the potty break. I don’t know what is worse – back in the days when Kat would stop to poo three or four times on our walk – or now with Molly and having to clean up a pile of sh#t three or four times the size of Kat. At least Molly likes to do her business close to a garbage can, unlike Kat who preferred to do hers in the middle of a busy intersection as far as possible from a garbage can.

Anyway… We got through Regent Park and made it across Elphinstone to Patricia Park.

**Patricia Park looked fairly quiet. It was not! The trees were filled with CROWS.**

I have no idea where all the crows have come from this year but Molly is on a mission to send them back there. We somehow managed to make it through Patricia Park, across the bridge and around Pony Park, and back to Elphinstone. It wasn’t fun but it was relatively quick.

Back on our side of Elphinstone, we headed for the ball diamonds. We almost made it around the first one before Molly had some kind of meltdown. She grabbed the leash in her mouth and tried running around my legs. Not only did she take me down with her but she tangled us up enough that there was no elegant recovery from this one. We make it back to our feet none the worse for wear, but the grounds keeper dude on his little tractor on the other side of the fence took in the entire spectacle.

Four or five ball diamonds later, and a relatively uneventful stroll across a field and and our little street and we made it back home. As soon as Molly was off her leash, she made a mad dash for her pool, tore around the yard a couple of times, sped through the house and dove into her kennel, where she has been sleeping ever since.

**They are so cute when they are sleeping.** 🙄

Meanwhile, I had my breakfast, relaxed for a bit, and did my workout. With any luck at all Molly will take it easy for the rest of the day and I will get something done this afternoon.

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞

Walking off the Celebration

July 27, 2022July 27, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in July 2022

I had a great day yesterday. Once again, I would like to thank everyone for the well wishes. If I missed anyone in the individual replies, I am so sorry! Every birthday wish, and comment on my improving fitness, was genuinely appreciated!

I had a very nice day which was topped off with two of my favourite foods for supper. KFC and Carmel Cake.

***Made it myself but it was SO good.***

Neither a choice that I would recommend for a healthy diet, but one has to keep it real. How many birthdays does one get in a lifetime? (Ok! Apparently it can be quite quite a few since this was my 67th 😉) Other than that, I stuck to my fitness routine yesterday and I was back to it this morning.

***Molly & I heading into the new Regent Park***.

***We had to stop to admire the wildflowers.***

***The crowded paths were manageable.*** 😯

***As were the deserted green spaces.*** 🙄

***Molly was relatively good today… except walking around the ball diamonds. I don’t know why she was determined to look over the fence every two minutes. I could see*** ***through the chain link?*** 🤔

***We finally ran across some other visitors to the park. We have SO many crows this year. Why is that?***

That is all I have for today. I came home and finished my workout so it is time to get some real work done around here. We had another heavy rain yesterday afternoon and Molly decided it would be a great time for a romp around the yard followed by a run through the house. I did clean up as best I could at the time but there is a still a wet dog smell lingering about the place. Nice…

Take care and have a great day!💞