Zumba!

We took some group photos after class one day. Of course, not many people want to brave photos after two hours of working out. So, the die hards as our instructor calls us braved it. We don't look too horrible. They were also trying to spell YMCA. There were disagreements about where the Y should be. For some reason, some people thought the camera would be backwards and the A should be on the left. I said it should be on the right. Notice, they were so confused we have two A's and two C's. Where's the Y and the M? LOL!

Look out Blue Dog, here comes Carla Wood

A friend of mine started painting for fun. She has been posting pics of her whimsical paintings of animals. Of course, I wanted to buy every one she made. Instead, I asked how much for a couple of my dog. She is talented beyond her own knowledge. I gave her pictures of Iggy and told her what I wanted and she did a fantastic job. I picked them up this past weekend while in BR and paid her for them. Now, I need to get them framed. Hopefully, I can make it to hobby lobby sometime soon.

Family Genetics Caught Up With Me

After 4 months of intense workouts of zumba 4 times a week 2-3 hours a day, losing 10 pounds and dropping two dress sizes, my blood pressure suddenly was extremely high at 154/102. I don't even have a primary care physician here and have lived here for nearly 3 years. That goes to show you how often I'm sick.

So, I was recommended to a great nurse practitioner. She put me on a low does of blood pressure meds and it was still high after two weeks at 140/98. Last week, she put me on a fluid pill, which I did not know is used for the treatment of high blood pressure. Made sense after she explained it. Now, I can happily say my blood pressure is steadily staying under 120/80. This mornings reading was 117/77 WOOO HOO! And, to make it even better, I've lost another 5 lbs in the past week without even trying thanks to the fluid pill.

Heart disease runs rampant in my family and it is so scary when the doctor tells you it is the silent killer among women. I had no symptoms AT ALL, which is very typical. The only reason it was caught was my annual checkup at my obgyn. She was floored that as actively as I work out that it was that high. She said unfortunately, sometimes genetics carries more weight than lifestyle. It scares me that my dad's brother died at the age of 40 of a massive heart attack. When I was young, that age seemed so old. Now, at 34, that's not so far away. This was a wake up call. Hopefully, with continued treatment it will stay under wraps. I do have to say though I don't feel as anxious when having a stressful day at work. I feel like someone gave me a Valium or something. ha ha.

Merry Christmas to my Hubby!

Sealy Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade

Our Zumba class from the YMCA participated in our small town Christmas parade. Steve even was volunteered to drive his truck with our zumba music blaring and lit up in Christmas lights. We had a lot of fun. I forgot to bring my camera but found a couple of pics of us on the Sealy Community Foundation page. Luckily you can't make me out in this pic. I'm the dork in the center front row with my hands straight up b/c I was yelling 'woo Sealy YMCA' at the stage trying to get them to dance. HA HA!

WHEW, thankful for great neighbors

Yesterday, after getting the mail, I got something in my eye that the pain brought me to my knees. I called my neighbor to come help flush it out and see if she could see anything. Two hours later I called begging her to drive me to the Dr. So, on we went. Long story short it was a clear looking piece of sand, aka glass. It scratched my cornea pretty badly. My vision out of that eye was extremely blurry yesterday. It's much better today! Whew, glad that's over. I'm oh so thankful for my sweet neighbor for being there for me while hubby is out of town for work.

The drama continues, this morning as I do every morning at 7am, I walked my dog. As soon as I got to the end of my driveway I noticed a suspicious car at the end of the culde-a-sac facing the street. The windows were so tinted I could not see in very well but swore I saw a bald headed guy leaned over kind of hiding. So, I walked home as fast as I could and called the constable. He came out and sure enough there was a guy in the car. It was a brand new black Lincoln town car. I saw him talking to the guy then he drove a couple houses down and knocked on their door. Then went back to the guy's car. Then they both drove off and the constable came back to my house. He said the guy drove a neighbor home from the airport late last night and parked there to catch a nap. I still find it odd he didn't park in the neighbors driveway and sleep. Is the neighbor that rude that he didn't even offer the guy to sleep on his sofa?? The constable was very thankful that I called right away. He said you never know, today the guy had a sensible story, tomorrow he may be back and it's not so sensible. He said you did the right thing by calling. This is what it takes in our community to stop things and don't ever hesitate to call.

So, today I am extremely thankful as we are approaching thanksgiving. Thankful for great neighbors and friends. The neighbor across the street (a different neighbor from the eye drama) sat with me as we watched the constable investigate this car. It's so nice to have such great people I can count on when I have only lived her for 2 years and have no family here. Oh, and I'm also very thankful for my eyesight. Amazing the tiny things we take for granted!

Country living

This was our backyard on a Saturday morning filled with Egrets. Of course, as soon as we started taking pics, they flew off. Our whole 2.5 acres were filled with these. It was too foggy for all of them to show up on the pictures.

Every morning I roll out of bed, put on my walking shoes and take my dog for a 1 mile walk in our neighborhood. This has become my favorite part of the day because I get to see beautiful sunrises. When the sky is the most beautiful, I never have my camera. I also am in too much awe to even go get it. I finally did snap a picture last week and this isn't up to par with some of the beautiful sunrises I see daily. It calms me and puts a smile on my face before starting my work day.