And finally some relief.....

So I left you all hanging on Wednesday.  This was not by choice but rather by necessity but I am happy to say that I am well on the road to recovery and hopeful that this is the last blog for the year about my health woes/experiences.  One can only hope, right?

The good news is that after the lumbar tests (spinal tap times 2), the doctors in the ER were able to rule out spinal meningitis.  I have to admit, I was in a daze or rather in denial during my ER visit on Wednesday that I had anything serious.  I am glad they ruled it out and decided on a mild form of neuropathy stemming from the stomach virus I had.  I was not so happy about the aftermath, however....

Basically in 1 in 20 patients, a spinal tap causes a migraine headache that can last for days without subsiding.   The headache started 90 minutes after the test and 30 minutes after the results.  When the nurse said,  "Didn't the doctors say you should rest after the test and do nothing?"  I was like, "ah, no...I was feeling fine so I just got my computer up and started to blog."  When she gave me that "you are such a dipshit" look I realized that the headache may have been my fault....dammit.  But since I was ultimately feeling ok, slight tingling in my legs and a slight headache, I decided that I was ok to drive home.  Boy, was that a mistake!

Thirty minutes into my 75 minute drive home, the headache became a full-fledged migraine with no relief in sight.  I called, or rather yelled, into the phone to my parents to see if they could meet me but they were no way close, stopped at McDonalds for a milk shake - yes I believed that sugar of some kind will always make you feel better - NOT!  Eventually, driving 60 mph on 3N I made it to the meeting point with my parents and they drove me home. 

Not realizing that the migraine was due to anything but a lack of real food for hours, I tried to eat something with my parents at dinner, and then proceded to head to bed knowing that I would have to work from home the next day.  I woke up with the migraine but tried to work - yeah, I lasted until 10:30 a.m. and then had to sign off.  Tylenol PM - you were my initial savior - I slept until 4:30 p.m. and still had the migraine.  Sooo, yes, I called the doctor's office who told me - "You're not going to like this but you are probably going to have to go back to the ER."  Yup, they were right, I didn't like it one bit.  So, we compromised and said that I would try to make it through the night and if it's worse in the morning, I would go.  Tylenol PM was my BFF that night and while I was lying flat I was fine.  I woke up with a smile on my face on Friday morning only to sit up with....yes, you guessed it....a migraine!  Will it ever end, I thought?  And it was worse, I couldn't sit up, couldn't walk standing straight up and was so painful that I couldn't make it to the stairs by my room to tell my parents.  I finally got enough strength to get my parents attention and worked my way to the ER with my stepmom. 

Can I just tell you how thankful I am for the treatment at Southern Nashua ER.  They wheeled me in and treated me right away.  First they gave me medication for the pressure on my head.  Yeah, that didn't work and then was given my best friend for life....morphine!  I *heart* morphine!  Oh, relief.  Then I got the diagnosis from the doctor - I had a spinal tap induced migraine they was caused by spinal fluid leaking from the hole made by the spinal tap needle that usually closes up but in 1 in 20 cases, it doesn't and requires a blood patch.   That said, ehwther or not I was on the computer following the spinal tap would not have stopped the migraine for coming on.  Ok, Ok, not the smartest move on my part, I admit.

So what is a blood patch? A blood patch is taking blood from my veins and inserting it in the area of the whole in my spine and it acts like a spackle.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you guessed it, I had to be taken up to the OR to be given another epidural and a blood patch (which was complicated by the fact that they couldn't find a good vein.  Now that was fun, but hey, I didn't feel a thing - thank you my BFF, Mr. Morphine!

All I have to say, is that the relief after the blood patch was nothing short of miraculous, and more importantly immediate.  Within 5 minutes, I was able to sit up, SIT UP, and then I was able to actually feel more like myself.  Not quite exactly like myself but definitely 80% better.  I was also thankful that I wasn't alone, I had my stepmom there with me and myy mom by phone.  I was very supported and was forced and rightly so, to take the rest of the weekend off.  No activities, no exercise, no nothing!

Now, it is Sunday, I have been able to sleep, rest and feel more and more like myself with each day and while I am not 90%, I am getting there.  Very thankful for all my family, friends and co-workers for all the support and chastising throughout the process. 

So this is the end of my health scare/adventure and I am definitely taking it easy.  Returning to work tomorrow and hopefully back to a more normal, restful routine.  Yeah, we will see how long this will last! Ha!  Seriously, I am extremely grateful and feel very fortunate that it wasn't something more serious.

Not the adventure I was expecting.....

My plan today was to wake up, go to the doctor's and head in to work.  I had an appt with my primary physician because after my stomach virus of the weekend, I had developed a strange tingling and numbness in both legs.  When it started on Sunday, I just figured I had slept wrong.  My Monday was uneventful except that the numbness and tingling persisted and it got worse at night.  After Bella woke up the family with her barking at 2 a.m. (Thanks Bella), I wasn't able to find a comfortable position to fall asleep, tossed and turned for an hour, paced for 30 minutes, and then went downstairs to watch a movie in hopes that the tingling and numbness in my legs would subside. 

Three hours later, it hadn't but I decided to ignore it and go into work.  Yes, I know - smart move.  At work, I was basically on fumes because I didn't have any energy and the numbness had traveled to the middle of my gluteus maximus - aka, my butt.  Think about it - how comfortable is it to sit on your butt when it feels like a "charlie horse"?  So not the best feeling in the world at all!  So after my last meeting of the day, I told my boss, not asked him, told him that I was heading home.  Once home, I got on the couch to rest and realized that the numbness and tingling in my legs was getting slightly worse again.  Took some Motrin and then decided - you know, enough and called the doctor's office.  They of course chastised me for not calling earlier and scheduled me for the first appt that they could - 9:50 a.m.

Woke up today and the numbness/tingling had slightly subsided.  I thought - leave it to my body to decide that there was no issue - afterall, it wasn't as bad as Monday, it was starting to feel better.  It's like when you make an appt to get your haircut and the day of the appt is the day your hair looks it's best.  I mean the tingling/numbness was still there but just less so.  So I went into Cambridge from NH and saw my primary, explained my symptoms, had my temperature taken, reflexes and strength tested in both legs, hell, I was even weighed.  But in the end, my doctor said that the symptoms to her seemed neurological - that sometimes when you have a virus, the same viral infection can attack your nerves and in my case, the nerves in the leg.  There is some fancy name for it that escapes me right now.  In any event, she called her neurologist at Brigham & Women's Hospital, who didn't even let her finish and within 10 seconds told her that I should come immediately to the emergency room there for testing and observation.

I was floored!  I mean, hello, I only have tingling - I can walk and talk at the same time, hell I even drove back and forth from NH 3 times this week already.  I have no fever, my blood pressure is fine - what the hell do I need to go to the emergency room for?????   Well, apparently, this is pretty common so I shouldn't panic, right?  Shouldn't be worried, right?  Then, my doctor said that the neurologist wanted me to be sent to the ER in an ambulance.  Oh, hell no!  I, being my mother's independent daughter, decided to drive there from Porter Square.  I can do THIS, I thought.  I am a healthy 37 year old woman with no surgeries, only two broken bones ever (coxic and thumb bones - don't ask - story for later), and no allergies - I can certainly get to the ER on my own.  And of course, I did.

Probably not the smartest move but here I am.  Still in the ER and blogging.  And I have to say, I am really glad I got here earlier than the dreaded evening ER experiences of the past where it is jam packed and the weight is like 5 hours.  I only had to wait for 90 minutes and then was given a "stylish" hospital gown and a bed in the hallway.  Hey, I entertained myself by people watching - very interesting stuff when you are in the hallway! 

I now have a room where I had some very unique experiences since being here today.  I got my 600 mg of motrin - yeah!  Then had blood work done - easy peasy and then, drum roll please, I had not one but TWO spinal taps.  They kept telling me, have you ever had a baby because it's like having an epidural.  If they ever tell you that - DON'T BELIEVE THEM!  Epidural is for putting some wonderful medicine in your system so you don't feel a thing when you give birth.  Spinal taps - the exact opposite - extracting spinal fluid!  Great!  I really had one but it took two tries - the first one, I almost fainted while I was sitting up and they couldn't get the right angle - but they tried REALLY, REALLY hard - hence, why I started feeling light headed.  After inverting the bed so I could get a wonderful blood rush, they tried again and this time I was lying down.  Picture me in a cannon ball pose as a needle is inserted into my spine - can you imagine how much fun that was???? Actually not so bad the second time around and they got what they needed - whew!

So, now I am just waiting for the results - for them to tell me nothing is wrong and I can go home.  Yes, I am blogging from my comfortable, private ER bed, waiting for the results.  hmmmm, could use some room service.....just kidding.  They are treating me really well here. Just would really like to know what's going on...hopefully will find out soon.

Foggy Not Bloggy

As some of my followers have mentioned to me today, I am behind in my blog posts having not posted since last week.  Sorry guys, something took over me last week and it's called the dreaded stomach flu.  It all started after one my offsite events that I was managing in downtown Boston and came on like gang busters by the time I was supposed to meet C and G for dinner with their friend at The Blue Room.  I was so excited for dinner that I purposely had a big breakfast and then a small snack for lunch in anticipating of mouthwatering appetizers and entrees.  Of course my friends were late - being the Greeks and Colombians that they are - hey, they'll admit and were even caught on camera arriving late to one of our friends' weddings a couple of years ago - and they lived the closest to the church!!!  C and G - you know I love you!

But I digress.....that said, I ordered the meals early because of the lateness - yummy shrimp and chorizo, beef tenderloin, pasta extraordinaire and roasted chicken - something for everyone. Except, then I started getting pains in my abdomen and thought, oh this isn't good.  But then my friends arrived and I tried to take my mind off of it.  Unfortunately for me/Fortunately for my friends, the food arrived, as much as I was looking forward to eating what I ordered, I had an immediate adversion to the food.  Couldn't eat a thing and then the chills started.  I then knew I was in trouble.  Yuck.

Luckily, C can drive stick and drove me to her place as I was in no condition to drive and then I headed home for the weekend of couch potato, football watching and reality show marathons to my hearts content.  Truth be told - I spent most of the time in a fever-induced stupor in an out of sleep and consciousness and nothing to eat but the BRAT diet or as I like to call baby food diet.

All this and my new year's resolution was not to get sick before/during/after work-related functions.  Ok, so the first one out of the shoot as a bust.  Next time, though, I will make sure I am hydrated and well rested the week prior!

I am back to work today and will be rest assured to keep you updated on the latest of eHarmony, Weight Watchers and other adventures this week so wait and see what this week will bring you!  Thanks for reading and following!

Are you feeling "In The Heights"?

Well, I am certainly feeling it!  Or at least I was last Thursday night at the Boston Opera House.  What is "In The Heights?"  It's a broadway musical that began with a vision of one Latino man from New York and blossomed not only into a broadway musical but also a multi Tony award winner.

This is a musical that is bilingual, multicultural (American - Latino, African - American,  South American, Caribbean etc), and just out and out fun!  Loved the acting, loved the songs, loved the dancing, loved the story - loved it loved it loved it!

I have to say that personally growing up I had a very different experience growing up.  My parents were divorced and I spent most of my time not identifying with my Colombian heritage - really just ignorant to what it means to grow up Latina. Yes, I had been to Colombia 3 times before I was 8 years old, but didn't really didn't get my heritage or ties to the "homeland" - I was too young and I all I understood was that they were my family.  Back in the States, where I was born, I didn't speak Spanish, didn't live within an enclave of Latinos or people born from Latin America.  I pronounced my last name incorrectly in school as it was just easier to have them mispronounce it.  It wasn't until I was 8 years old that I found out how important my heritage was to me and how important it was for me to communicate to my relatives and understand where my father came from. 

When I went to live with my father at 10 years old, I started making more of a cultural connection and also faced the racism and prejudices of my classmates because I didn't "look Latina,"  I didn't look like my father - a Colombian who is also Black.  And I didn't speak Spanish like my father and Tia.  It was a long time before I could reconcile this and was further confused when I asked my dad a simple question - "Dad, are you Black?" and his response was "No, I am Colombian."  You see, my classmates didn't know that people from Latin America could also be black and I only saw my father as my dad, my papi.  Also, my dad is one of 9 children of which only 2 live in the US.  So there was no real extended family, no little Colombia nearby where we lived in Northern Virginia, we lived a multcultural apartment complex.  Yes, we watched futbol (soccer) every weekend together, but we also watched football.  Instead of Sabado Gigante, we watched Soul Train and Solid Gold.  We ate pandebonos (warm cheesebread) and bunuelos (our Colombian version of donuts) on weekends and hello, rice and beans of course.  But I didn't speak Spanish, and the only time I heard it was when I was being reprimanded by my dad or tia who lived with us.  I still look back on those times with fondness and now that my dad has started making pandebonos for my little sister on weekends, I always smile.

What is my point in sharing this with you?  As much as I wanted to relate to "In The Heights," I couldn't.  My story of growing up was distinctive in that my mom was not Latin American but my father was, and while I lived with my father, I didn't live in a predominantly Hispanic/Latino community, while I was exposed to the culture, I didn't speak the language.  However, what I learned over the years, was how much I connected to the culture, the language, my familia, my Colombia, and finally my identity, rich in the blood of my Spanish, African indigenous as well as German, English and Scottish heritages. 

All in all, so glad I saw it and experienced it, and so happy to have found joy in it!  Whatever your background, I encourage all to see it and you will see aspects that you can relate and aspects you can't but overall you will ENJOY IT!

Entering The Debt-Free Zone - Here Come The Jars!

Yesterday I went to Target with my sister to buy some jars - and not just any jars, not jars to store food or marbles, but to store my financial future.  Yes, I said it - jars for my financial future.  It was my good friend who turned me onto to this show, "Til Debt Do Us Part." 

This show is about couples who are at the brink of financial catastrophe and the show's host shows these couples how to transform their current financial situation into a win to bring them out of debt.  Debt is universal, right?  For example, low income + high debt or as we like to call in my family - "Champagne Taste with Beer Money."  In the Boston area, the high cost of living alone can get you in trouble and into debt - whether you rent or own, have an active social life or love to shop - and most importantly, not paying attention to what is coming in and what is going out - that ugly Debt monster can creep right in.  The Debt monster is like a party crasher that never leaves.  So in 2010, I am kicking my debt monster out the door - and as the song goes - to hit the road, jack, and don't come back no more! 

Whether you are single or part of a couple, this show provides you with tools - spreadsheets, and a plan with jars.  Here are a picture of my jars:

There are five in total and they have categories to allot your income to:

So since being paid last Friday, I am keeping track of what comes in and what must go out and then storing that information.  Beginning on February 1st, I will be taking my salaried income, dividing  into the categories and saving with each pay check with the hope of realizing my dream home ownership in early 2011.  Wish me luck and may the jars runneth over!

Mis Sucias and Reading About The "Other".....Highly Recommended

In another post last week, I mentioned that I belong to a book club, "Las Sucias."  Now before you all go on calling us "dirty girls" and all the connotations that go along with it.  Let me explain....when the group formed several years ago, their first book was "The Dirty Girls Social Club," about Latina professionals living in Boston, which I highly recommend - a kind of Latina version of "Sex In The City" which we could all relate to from time to time during the course of our lives.  The "Dirty Girls" translated in Spanish is "Las Sucias." So the book club adopted this name. I was invited to join in after they had already formed and have enjoyed it ever since.  Here we are at one of recent meetings:

As you can see, we always bring our smiles and our lipstick (right Sarah???).  Our book club meetings of course center around food, sometimes the discussion of food takes over the discussion of the book - especially if we arrive ravenous but ultimately we do get down to business - did we like the book?  What didn't we like?  And the discussions can be in Spanish, English or my personal favorite espangles (espanol + ingles)! :)

But it is more than just a book club - it's a support system - we have had 3 babies with one on the way this year and 1 wedding, 2 home purchases, we have had break-ups and make-ups; discussed struggles of single momhood, teenager fun, and of course, the ever present job woes.  We had a great anniversary weekend in 2009 where we stayed at my mom's house and drank, ate, and were merry complete with Zumba in the livingroom and wine tasting in Westport!  Through it all, it is a safe haven to come to and just be yourself.

But ultimately we do read - in both English and Spanish and discuss books either by Latin authors or about Latin American history, fiction and non-fiction - everyone has their turn and once the book is decided upon we align our potluck menu to the country or countries where the story takes place - Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Spain - even Afganistan!

Due to my commute, audio books are my preference in either language and I have been pretty lucky so far and can finish a book a week so I tend to buy multiple audio books once the books is decide.  For January, we are reading, "By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept," which is set in several towns in Spain and France and relates the love story of a seminarian and a young woman who were childhood friends. 

Now before you start thinking - oh, this is a Latino version of The Thorn Birds, it's not and it actually surprised me and I fell in love with the characters and the story.  It is very spiritual in nature with beautiful music (ok, I am lucky it was on audio and could listen to the music along with the story).  It is not overtly religious but religion does play a role in the decisions both main characters make and you are left wondering until the very end whether or not they will actually end up together.  And no, I am not going to tell you either - read the book - I promise you won't be disappointed!

The one main thing I will talk about it is a single component of the book that they named "the other."  The other encompasses your fears about anything in your life - family, love, job, etc. and can hold you back from making a decision that may be right for you in the long run because you are afraid and your fears take hold and hinder you from going in possibly the right direction for you.  Is this one of those deep thoughts - definitely.  Could I relate? absolutely.  I think all of us have been faced with whether or not to open the door or keep it closed when making an important decisions, have let our fears get the better of them, etc.  Both characters in the book struggle with this and ultimately find themselves removing "the other" and following their hearts.

I am adopting this goal for me this year - to understand "the other" inside of me and then close the door on it so I can make the right decisions for myself and follow my heart.
 

Praying for Haiti

This is not going to be a light hearted blog. 

I am at home snuggling with my snoring puppy while watching ABC News coverage of the earthquake in Haiti and their love ones living here in the United States who are hoping for a word, any word from their family members who live on the island.  It is the first time that I have been able to watch any coverage and I am struck by the devastation but also know the resilience of people who want to live despite the destruction around them.  I have never had to experience anything like this.  My family in Colombia has.

My father just mentioned how he experienced devastation earthquakes in Popayan where he found is sister-in-law's family covered in dirt, dazed and confused.  In 1998, my cousin Nanda was a new mother living with her husband in Armenia when an earthquake decimated that city in Colombia as well.  They had to walk several miles just to get to safety with their infant son with only the clothes on their backs - no home, their businesses destroyed and far from any family.  My uncle couldn't get to them for 3 days due to the safety issues and aftershocks.  My uncle Ramiro in 1974 died from a landslide in Bogota triggered by an earthquake.  And yet, they and/or  their families stayed.  That takes a love, a resiliency and of course spirit.

But even as poor as my family was when my father was growing up (house of three bedrooms with dirt floors, an out house for a bathroom, and barely enough food for the family of 11)  - they were never as poor as Haiti - 80% of the population lives on an income of $2 per day!  For all the earthquakes they experienced, it cannot even compare to what we are all seeing on the television, reading online or in hard copy.

My prayers go out to the Haitian people on the island and across the world.  May they reconnect with their families if they haven't already and may their lives be hopeful once again amidst the sadness that surrounds them.   I encourage us all to donate to the red cross or any of the several organizations that are focused on supporting Haiti and helping them through this difficult time onto recovery.

Bachelor/Bachelorette...What's Love Got To Do With It Anyway?

Ok, so I have to admit it, I am a reality TV junkie and it's one of my biggest vices - just ask my family who have banned all reality TV in the house.  Little do they know that I sneak up to the TV over the garage - aka Dad's man cave and watch my shows:

So knowing that I am also searching for the love of my life, I am also currently watching The Bachelor. 

As corny as it is - e.g. if I hear the theme song of "On The Wings Of Love" one more time, I think I may hurl, the search for love is always relatable, no?  I mean here is Jake searching for his "soul mate" on national television among 30 or so young women and I am looking for love online through a matchmaking Web Site.  There are interesting similarities and very distinct differences:

• I am a woman looking for a man; Jake is a man looking for a woman - Ha!  No sh*t, right? Ok, that was obvious.
• Matchmaking: I completed a personality profile to begin the matchmaking process and I am thinking Jake provided his criteria to kickoff the meet and greet on national TV.  (Score = Tie)
• Matches: I pay eHarmony to work at finding my matches and emailing me new matches daily via email; Jake has to do much of the work at interviewing from one pool of matches provided, no new women provided (Score 1 for Elisa - woot woot!)
• Communication/Interviewing: I can chose to communicate with some of matches and close others with a multiple choice of options as to why - the most popular - "Other" because who wants to hurt another person's feelings, really?.  Jake, on the other hand, provides roses or not and hurts women's feelings in person (Again, Score 1 for me!)
• Finding Love: Ultimately, we both want to find love - as corny as that sounds, it's true (Score for us is tied!)

There is no easy answer but I am learning as much about myself as I am about my potential matches on eHarmony so I can say this - I am trying to enjoy it for what it is - an adventure, yes; fun, yes and learning to be as honest with myself as with the men, or rather man that I am communicating with which we will call "R" for now.

R and I have been communicating for the past week and a half - not long at all.  But since we have been communicating we have hit all levels of what the Website calls "Guided Communication" which leads you to actual face to face communication.  Because my girlfriends have asked to spell out all the levels, here they are:

1. Read about me (basic profile information about passions, influential people in your life, what you are thankful for, etc.).
2. Start Communication: R sent me his first set of questions and I answered them   Then I sent him mine.  The nice thing about this is that eHarmony provides you with sample multiple choice questions to get more information about your match, e.g. what is your idea of a romantic date?)
3. Send Must Haves and Can't Stands (When R sent me his, I liked them and also laughed outloud at his directness in certain areas - to be filled in later after I have had several shots of tequila)
4. Send 2nd Set of Questions:   You can chose from sample questions but this time, there is no multiple choice so not only do you have to open yourself up to the possibilities but also be honest about what you truly want.  My personal favorite was when "R" answered that if his life was a movie that the actor that would play him would be Avery Brooks (one of my favorites from Spencer for Hire!- Ok, I am dating myself
5. Finally, if we are still interested in communicating, we have to read a message from Dr. Warren (I am guessing the founder of eHarmony) before open communication begins.

So we are at that #5 stage.  One step before we talk live.  I can see many people saying, I would rather go with "Fast Track" communication (bypassing all the steps and going straight for the jugular).  But for me, this so far is working for me.  Could I consider it to be another job - maybe. But then again, I am just glad I am putting myself out there and going for it for once in my life.

Hmmm...let's see where eHarmony takes me and what the future holds..... :)

Week 2 - Could it really happen?

Now into week 2 of eHarmony I am a little more hopeful at the possibilities but at the sametime still a little weary.  I am still communicating with the same man who contacted me the very first day and we are just on the cusp of - gasp! - open communication.  We have gone through the 4 levels of guided communication and am now waiting for the last series of questions to come through.  Yay! Let the face to face adventures begin!!!!???

Let me just say, it's a hell of a lot easier to go through guided communication than going to a bar

or dance club and hope that you meet someone.  But sometimes I do wonder - what happened to meeting people naturally, or organically as Drew Barrymore's character said in "He's Just Not That Into You"?  I could totally relate to her experience in the film - it is exhausting and I am hoping that this eHarmony thing doesn't become like yet another part-time job like a lot of other things can become - you know -things like looking for a condo/house, looking for a job, and the list can go on and on.

The other thing I need to get used to is - communicating with more than one man.  I mean, truly at heart, I am a one-man woman.  But through this process I am learning, when one door opens so does a couple more.  You can actually communicate with more than one guy through guided communication (i.e. a set of questions over a variety of different levels/ways) and still not feel too too guiilty about it, right? Right?!

So I will keep you posted on how things go with "R" and the other matches should they play ball.  Ah, love, virtually and otherwise should prove to be interesting!
 

Bella's Adventures in Making Friends

For those of you who don't know, our family has a puppy, a 2 year old boxer who is the love of our lives - even my dad says that she is his favorite daughter - she obeys, doesn't talk back and is delicate when she eats (my dad's words, not mine).   She has taken over my role of suck up in the family :).   But she is also such a joy and so much fun with a tremendous amount of energy which requires daily visits to puppy daycare and weekend trips to the dog park.  Other than that she hasn't had much interaction with other dogs and especially on weekends spends most of her time snuggling and sleeping.

Isn't she adorable???

So I decided that this past weekend would be different and took Bella with me to a dog park and met up surprisingly with an old friend - Ileana and her dog Bo.  At first I was concerned because Bo has such a different temperament - calm, serene,  and he is almost 84 years old (12 in dog years) and Bella is all about showing love with gusto.   It was damn cold out so we ended up walking the dogs to go inside.  Bella was so cute with Bo.  She followed Bo, made sure that she walked right next to Bo all the way back to my friend's house. And when I couldn't keep up with my knee, she pulled me the rest of the way to make sure I kept up regardless.   

When we got inside, at first Bella left Bo alone and went straight for the food (that's my girl!). 

Since Bo has a sensitive stomach, Ileana kept Bo close to her:

Then afterwards, Bella came right up and decided it was now time to show Bo with affection:

And  then finally, they both decided to take a nap together. 

It was so nice to see Bella make a new friend and be delicate with Bo who is considerably older but took  Bella just the same.  Ileana and I agreed - more puppy play dates will be made and put on the calendar - hopefully when temperatures are warmer as well.  Bella was so energized that she snoozed all the way home and slept through the night without as much as a wimper.   Love her to death and enjoyed snuggling with her this morning when I woke up back at home in NH!  Thanks Ileana and Bo for sucha  great Saturday!

ZUMBA - Yes, it can be done with an injured knee!

Yesterday, I decided to brave my first ZUMBA class since injuring my knee. For those of you who have not become Zumba fans yet, visit www.zumba.com and as they say - Join the party! Don't be afraid!

Last year, during a boring weekend at home, I saw an infomercial for Zumba Live and got hooked. Yes, it has everything to do with my love for dancing salsa and merengue and not to mention - a great workout. So instead of sweating on the dance floor - which is soooo unattractive and please note, I am working on not having happen the next time I get on the dance floor with the potential love of my life - I sweat in the privacy of my own home. Last summer, I even brought the DVDs to my book club anniversary weekend in South Dartmouth and my fellow "sucias" (will explain later) joined in and all of us had a blast. It's contagious, trust me! And even if you don't know how to merengue and salsa but love to dance - this is definitely a workout without seeming as if it is.

Ok, enough of my informercial on Zumba - back to last night's class. I am not going to lie, part of me was like - can I really do this with my knee? This fear was heightened after my co-workers said, "are you really going?" as I was wrapping my knee with my double ace bandage. The answer was of course, yes because I am a Zumba crazy enthusiast and am tired of the treadmill, elliptical and stationary bike options of late and even the pool is getting a backseat. So, I made the 90 minute trek to Merrimac and met up with not just my parents' friends but surprise surprise my 14 year old sister was there.

I was so happy I made it (yes, within 5 minutes of the start due to the wonderful traffic of Route 3 North) and got right into it. And....it wasn't bad as I thought - especially since it seemed as if the instructors were still learning their choreography and allowed for breaks. Plus it was a far cry from the ZUMBA Craze of Medford Square in late December which was 90 minutes of high-impact, sweat inducing, instructor killing moves - which I enjoyed back when my knee wasn't acting like its injured arthritic self.

In any event, the point is - I survived the 60 minute class and was able to walk today and believe it not, go up the stairs somewhat normally. Hurray! There is a light at the end of the recovery tunnel! Woot! Woot! Sprint Triathlon - Look out!

New Dilemma and additional newsworthy items

So last night I got my first ever communication from a man I had closed out from my matching list on eHarmony - he wants me to reconsider. In fact his exact words (or rather chosen from a multiple list of potential statements was: "I really felt that we had potential. I'd like you to reconsider. " It actually made me think - maybe I was too hasty, maybe I should give him a shot, still mulling it over. Will keep you posted if I actually reconsidered. No other communications from the matches I communicated with but I have decided to be more patient this time and wait - what a novel concept, huh?

So here is some newsworthy items to share - when flat-ironing my hair this morning at the god-awful hour of 5:45 a.m. a report about http://www.beautifulpeople.com/ came up. Now, I think we all deserve to be on that website, right? Aren't we all beautiful people in our own way? Well, apparently to this website, we are definitely NOT all beautiful people, especially the fatties that used to be their members but after a holiday binge on food have had their membership revoked. According to the founder, you see, "fatties" as they put it, do not and cannot be on their website which only promotes the thin, beautiful ones. Gotta love it! Since I never heard of this website, no harm done but imagine those who who received the following message as of January 1 - Happy 2010, we have removed you from our membership list. Wishing you all the best!" Ha! Would love to hear the reactions of their actual members instead of just their fearless - and I do mean fearless - he used the word "Fattie" in his released statement, afterall - leader.

Now onto somewhat shocking news that I had no idea about also - Gastric Bypass Surgery. At the height of my weight gain (2006-2008, I had put on 60 pounds. Now, while I could blame it on a new job, new house, new roommate (boyfriend), the truth of the matter was I gained the weight myself with self indulgence on everything I could get my hands-on, especially steakfries (yum, yum). And there was no exercise to speak of - prior to 2006 I was at power yoga classes 5 times a week and running. Ok, so I had to accept it and faced the moment of truth with the doctor who wanted to put me on weight medication (which by the way is NOT covered by insurance and a wopping $200 a month) then I was going to have to consider surgical options if I didn't lose the weight. Needless to say, I was shocked, embarrassed and it definitely kicked me in high gear to lose weight. Then today at my Weight Watchers meeting our leader told us that she had heard a report that 1 in 9 people who do the Gastric Bypass surgery dies! 1 in 9! So if that isn't incentive to lose weight the old fashioned way I don't know what is!

Wow! All this and the day isn't over yet. But the work week almost is - Woot! Woot!

Joining eHarmony (free communication weekend to Day 2)

So it is 2010 and a new year right? So why not throw caution to the wind and join eHarmony so I can put myself out there. What do I have to lose? Right?

Ok, so I haven't played the field (is that even still a phrase?) in about 10 years. And it's been almost 2 years since my relationship ended so I figured it was time to at least try to put myself out there. And there is a lot to choose from - match.com, chemistry.com - hell, there is even onlinebootycall.com - which completely made me laugh but hey - at least they are honest about what their site is all about. I have had many of my friends do this online dating thing - mostly match and then some on chemistry.com too. I gravitated towards eHarmony - not once but now this is my second shot - now that I think I know what to expect, again, I think.

So it started with the free communication weekend over the holidays, of course I hedged until it was the second to last day. So I went online, reactivated my profile, extended my search criteria and poof! In came the matches so here I am going, should I or shouldn't I? Should I? or Shouldn't I? And then one of the matches reached out to me.

Maybe I am a traditional woman but there is something to be said when a guy reaches out and makes the effort so we started communicating and are now on level 3 of communication since Monday. Hmmmmm and he hasn't written back but as eHarmony states - be patient.

Ok, so how do I deal with my patience, I took the next group of matches, closed some and then sent communications to 9 other matches - Ha! That will show him, right? Oh yeah, he doesn't see that...hmmmm. Well we shall see what happens.

I am giving this eHarmony three months and then I may have to take another adventure out into the less virtual and more real field. Stay tuned and see what happens!