R.I.P. Jack the Dog



Jack the Dog

 My parents' dog Jack died yesterday.  He was very old - they've had him for 15 years (I was still at uni and living at home when we got him), and he was probably already about 3 by then - so he has had a very long run, for a dog. 

They rescued him from the RSPCA.  I was away for the weekend and returned on the Monday to a note on the kitchen bench not to be alarmed, but there is a dog in the backyard and yes, he is now part of the family.  And so he was.  I think it was love at first sight for my mum.  They were not looking to get a dog at that time, but they went along to the RSPCA annual fair/fete thing in Canberra.  They saw him ... and the rest was history.  He has really been Mum's constant companion, special little friend and DEFINITELY favourite child ever since!

The last time I saw Jack he was looking very old and like life was becoming a bit of a struggle.  So I knew this day was in the not too distant future.  However, I had not realised he'd gone downhill so much lately.  Mum says in the last few days he could barely walk and was being sick everywhere - basically his kidneys failed him in the end, and they had to let him go and end his suffering.  Mum is pretty upset about it.

So R.I.P Jack the dog - what a great little fella you were.  He is always referred to as "Jack the dog" in our family, because that's what my nephew & niece call him. 

Weddings, Parties, Anything

Ooops, been slack on the blogging front again!  Anyway, I have quite a busy time coming up.  We have 3 interstate trips coming up for various festivities, starting with this coming weekend.

It is my friend's 40th party down in Melbourne - seems like he is going to a lot of trouble for the party so really looking forward to it.  A major concern right now though is that we just don't know what to get him as a present & it is now only a few days away - HELP PLEASE!   As Wed is Australia Day, we're taking the opportunity to also take Monday & Tuesday off and finally going to explore the Great Ocean Road!  I am very excited about this.  I do hope things are ok down there, as there does seem to be quite some flooding going on in Victoria too - [begin rant] not that you would know there is anything going on outside of QLD by the saturation (no pun intended!) coverage in the media.  Obviously it would be better if nobody was going through this, as it's all horrible, but I do object to the media feeding frenzy around the QLD situation while there was nary a mention of anywhere else, especially Brazil where many hundreds of people have died. [end rant]  So anyway, the GOR trip should be great fun.  Then it's back to Melb on Tues night to stay with some other friends who are getting married soon, and home on Wed.

Then a few weeks later it's off to Adelaide for a friend's wedding.  The wedding is on the Friday and then it is the first weekend of the Adelaide festival, so my friend has organised some fun activities for the weekend, including a day tour to the Barossa.  Fantastic! 

But wait ... there's more.  A few weeks after that, it is off to Melbourne again.  The aforementioned friend, who we're seeing next Tuesday, is getting married in country Victoria - a place called Avoca.  So we'll be hitting the highways and byways of Victoria again that weekend.  So lots of interstate exploration coming up, and lots of festivities!  Yaaaay!! 

Recovery Shouldn't Take 4 Days!

Jeez I've been slack with the blogging!  Was back to work this week, blah blah blah.

So, I started the week very gung ho about how I was going to return to my pre-wedding routines for food & exercise.  I knew it was really weights that I'd been slack with & needed to get to the gym pronto - so off I toddled on Tues after work.  I realised it was the first time I had been there after work since about a week before the wedding.  (i.e. over 2 months ago now!)  I have been a couple of times on weekends, but had not got back into an after work routine in all that time.

So I did a bit of cardio to warm up well, then weights, then a bit more cardio, then abs & stretching.  Maybe I was a bit ambitious with the weights, as it had been a few weeks ... but I was so determined about getting "back into it".  So I went straight for super-setting everything.  At one point towards the end, I actually felt slightly weak and dizzy ... and afterwards my legs were actually trembling.  I bent down to re-tie my shoelace (something it seems I have to WAY too often ... anyone else have this problem??) and I seriously had the shakes.  haha  Anyway, I felt a bit shakey and fatigued afterwards, but not in a bad way. 

As expected, I was in a bit of pain the following day and this escalated on Thursday.  Every time I stood up from my chair at work to go somewhere I had stiffened again & was walking like an old grandma.  I had planned to have Wed as a rest day, as I knew there would be pain, and get back to the gym on Thurs ... but I seriously could barely walk on Thursday and was even sore on Friday.  Yesterday I just took Lucy for a good walk instead, and it is only now today I feel I can go back to the gym.

Normally I would always advise just working through the pain, once you warm up it feels better, etc.  But this was so bad I couldn't have seen how I would even get warmed up! 

What do you all think out in blog-land?  Did I perhaps over-do it in my enthusiasm?  Or is it just that it had been a while since I was in a regular weights routine, and it should settle down now?  Any tips for alleviating this in the future?  I'm thinking if I need more rest days than active days, I'm not going to achieve much!