Notable things that I've done since we chatted last

My my my it has been a long time! 

Long enough that this post deserves to be a "what Mel has done in the last couple weeks" so we can be all caught up on recent events, and thus ready to dive into other topics.

1. History essay. Thank you for everyone who has given me ideas!  The subject of worming seems to be especially popular.  I find the topic of the lack of recent triple crown winners intriguing, as well as how treating and rehabbing tendon injuries has changed. You may not consider the last one worthy of a whole essay....until you learn that we used to "rinse out" central/core lesions - ie put fluid in the top of the tendon through a needle, then rinsed so the fluid flowed out the bottom of the tendon (from another needle)....and then they tried this technique with bone marrow and voila!  It worked better and how we've progressed to the point where we are injecting stem cells into core tendon lesions.  And we haven't even gotten to tendon splitting and pinfiring.  I'll definitely be keeping more than one topic at hand because I'm not sure what information is out there on specific topics. I tried to do a "practice" short essay on the history of animal castration/sterilization that described its practice in agriculture and how the focus on sterilization of companion non-food or working animals came about, and tracing the changing attitudes from the early-1900's on neutering companion animals, to the establishment of the first spay/neuter clinic in the mid-1900's.....to the increase of pre-puberty sterilizations, to today's controversary of how early sterilization may predispose dogs to orthopedic issues or cancer risks.

It was actually extremely difficult to find good information!!!!!!  So, I have a feeling I'll need 2 or 3 really good topics in case my "chosen" topic ends up hitting a dead end relative to my time available to reserach it......

If you come up with a good idea - please continue to submit them.  I may choose to do a short brief on the topic here on blog if it ends up being intriguing :).

2. I moved. It was a lot of work. It is still a lot of work. It's probably the number one reason why you haven't gotten blog posts. Note that my MAILING address hasn't changed - it's still a PO box in Marysville. However, I don't have to admit to a physical address on "Meconium" way anymore, so perhaps I'll actually start using my street address....

I had all sorts of #firstworldproblems associated with moving.  Such as.....my truck will not fit in the garage. Since MY truck won't fit, that means MATT'S truck won't fit, being a couple inches longer.....which is a HUGE bummer.  It turns out that our lease limits us to 3 vehicles (check!) and none of them can be parked on the street.  Which means 1 in the garage, 2 in the drive way. So....the vehicle that is driven less than once a month has to be parked in the driveway.  Matt's commuter truck has to be parked in the driveway....and my commuter car has to be parked in the garage. Which means every time I need to leave or come home Matt has to move his truck out of the drive way if he's home.  UGH!  Being a diesel,  none of us (including the truck) is a fan of this plan.

Very much first world problem.

As is not being able to get the treadmill into the workout room (or into the house past the living room, which is why it remains in the garage).

Or the next door neighbor leaving their outside lights on that shine into the bedroom window.

3. I put on my skinny pants. No, I'm not being rhetorical, "skinny pants" are not a euphemism for "big girl pants". :). A couple years ago my mother gave me a pair of exercise/lounge pants she found at the thrift store. I really liked them. I was told to give them to my sister because they wouldn't fit.....and she was right. They didn't fit. But I LIKED them. I wanted them. I coveted them. So I didn't give them to my sister. I put them in my dresser and tried them on once a while.  The problem was they weren't stretchy and so until my hips and butt were little enough there was no "squeezing them".

Last summer I lost enough weight that they fit!  It was a miracle. I wore them all the time. And then.....winter came. I moved somewhere I couldn't run unless I drove somewhere....and the weight came back. Every single pound.  Grrrrrr.......

The pants went back to the dresser. I still refused to give them to my sister.

This summer I lost weight again.  Not as quickly as last summer, but a slow, sustainable weight loss.  I continued to make my "one small change" and slowly saw the numbers drop.  My goal is 10%, I'm at just over 8% right now.

Now....I know that numbers aren't everything. I have very little tolerance for being hungry so I'm not willing to starve myself. I'm more interested in feeling strong during my runs than weak and tired and I love food. However, the pattern over my entire life of gaining 5 pounds in the winter and then losing 5 pounds in the summer wasn't exactly ideal. Especially because as I got to my late 20's the "losing" part of the equation was going away :).

My hope is because my weight loss was slower than last year and later in the year (when I'm usually struggling to keep the weight off that I lost during the summer as school starts and it gets cooler) that it will stay off, and my skinny pants can just become "pants". :)

For those interested in such things the most significant "one small change" that built up to this point were:
- fasting 2 days a week (500 calories) with emphasis on protein and veggies. The other 5 days a week avoiding wheat, but not being overly strict on exactly what I'm eating, and eating according to hunger, even if it increased my calorie count past recommended
- Walking most days a week. Interval training a couple times a week. Lifting heavy things at least once a week. Ride as often as I can.
-  Stand if I can. Sit if a must
- Use myfittnesspal.com to log food and exercise - even on the days that I'm not "watching what I eat". What counts is the logging, not what is logged :)

4. Upcoming rides. My ride and tie is next weekend. I'm seriously considering a 50 the Sunday after Thanksgiving since it will count towards 2014 season (and thus my decade team). Farley looks great and very sound. My solstice is the highlight of my life and I will keep it forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Not horse related....but I'm planning on doing a trail half marathon near the end of this month.  It has a giant hill in the first 3rd that looks worthy of a Tevis canyon.  Which I shall be clawing my way up without the benefit of my horse's tail.  Which may be more stupid than tying my horse to a tree and running away from it on purpose.

5. Third year school.....is the best. Seriously. So much more fun. More applicable, more interesting. My surgery's are going well. I was anestheist for my last dog neuter, which I enjoyed so much more than being surgeon. We are now done with dog neuters and will be moving onto cat spays next week!