Building The Love Shack

From the other side of the blog, it probably looks like things have been quiet with the Love Shake and our Warrior Family. The reality is it has been just the opposite.

There has been a lot going on and health has been the focus.

Over the last few months, we have had a lot of health scares.

 

 

 

You know those people who don’t tell you what’s going on and you get pissed off at them for keeping secrets… You know those people you say, how am I supposed to know how to help you or support you if I don’t know the information… And as a Nurse, I say, “it is your choice to keep your medical information to yourself, but if you are unwell you are going to need help. You should consider telling someone what is going on.”… Well in November I became one of them.

I went for my physical and we had some concerns. When I tell you that a mammogram was booked along with an ultrasound, I guess I won’t have to tell you what they were looking for. Then add in the blood work.

It took four weeks to get my appointments and in the meantime, Christmas was coming and I didn’t want to scare anyone with information that I didn’t have or ruin Christmas. So besides a couple of the Nurses I work with, my daughter-in-law and one friend who had been down this road, I kept it to myself.

In those four weeks, I did a lot of talking to the powers above.  We, me and the powers above talked about the first time I got the be C-word brought into my life when I was fourteen and had bone cancer. We talked about the next few times when lumps and a few body parts that it turns out you don’t really need anyway were removed.

Each time these happened there was a surgery or a procedure involved and yet here I am at fifty-seven, still here and still making hell along my way.

But this time I made a deal with the powers above. This one comes back clear and I promise to go back to clean living.  Living the life I did seven years ago, before the Fibro Diagnoses.

I got the early Christmas Gift.  No Big-C. But my cholesterol levels are sky-rocket high… Shit… Yup, I typed that… Ok, we can deal with that.

Next came the dam colonoscopy.  Now we go back three years ago when I had eighteen inches of my bowel removed from diverticulitis and those nine nasty polyps that had turned, yup again cancerous.

And the good news is.. bowel is clear and no signs of the nasty C-word. The other good news is I can stop having those dam test all the time.

So now we have to go to the promise that I made with the powers above.

As I said, it seems I am not the only one who…Sorry Warriors, let themselves go to hell.

Looking at us… It’s a good thing we are only Weekend Warriors, cause we couldn’t do it for a living.  In our group, we won’t mention the weight gain that it seems all of us have been a party too. We also have knee replacements needed. High blood sugar levels. High cholesterol levels. Joint pain. Low energy. Difficulty reaching, bending and lifting.

The Warriors are falling apart. And to think I am one of the oldest ones. Oh ya, the Doggies Doctor also said Romeo at 116 lb and Juliette at 83 lbs.. are also fat…So the reality the good life is killing us all one day at a time.

So we have talked, the Warriors and I. To not have any empty chairs when we are retired sitting by the lake, we need to get our acts together.  And they have now been brought into the promise to the powers of above.

The husband was the first onboard, he went back to playing soccer. The only Budda I want in my garden is the statue in my Zen Garden. LOL… Sorry, Husband.

I went back to the using that gym he built me.  The Warriors are walking and swimming.

We eliminated can drinks… better for us and the environment. Morning coffees and teas are being made at home in a reusable container.

Packaged food, doesn’t get purchased anymore. Everything is fresh. Sugar is been cut back on. Yes, that includes my baking. It has been limited to special occasions.

Meals prepared are more vegetables and fruits and lean meats, both at home and planned for the cottage.

Take out is allowed only if there are healthy choices. The dogs will miss the morning run to the cottage with a stop for their Sausage McMuffins. But they will be ok.

We also eliminated plastic water bottles. The cottage now owns two large water jugs that we can take up freshwater in and we have purchased stainless steel water bottles to take to work.

In our process of Going Green, we are eliminating single-use plastic as much as we can at home and the cottage.

The cottage has always been Green Products only for cleaning of the cottage and the Warriors. That has been also extended to home.

I won’t tell you that this has been an easy journey. Nor will I tell you that switching things over was inexpensive.

The original purchase to buy the containers was much more expensive than the one time use plastic containers.

It is also a bit more time consuming to cook. It’s also harder to find food on the go. I might add we needed larger lunch bags. Healthy food and reusable containers take up more space.

The number of recycling bags going out to the dump each week has come down. So have the blood sugars and cholesterol levels.

We aren’t at bragging rights yet, but some weight loss has also been happening.

So that’s where we have been hiding and you haven’t been hearing for us. We have declared this the year of the Weekend Warrior.

In order to keep building the Love Shack and then get to actually enjoy it, we had to start with re-building ourselves.

We now have another journey to invite you on with us. Not only are we building the Love Shack, but we are also rebuilding the Warriors.