Cheekychinchilla's food and stuff

Oooo this adventure sounds very exciting :D Most excitement im getting soon is a meal out and cinema lol Having kids means I don't get any me time or go out as a couple with hubby so my mother in law looking after kids while we go out :D
 
Blades, grab whatever time you can dude! ;)

It will be very odd going by myself. I hardly ever have complete alone time and I even have conversations with the dogs. But, I'm also not very sociable and incredibly shy, Erm.... LOL! Scary!!!

Also, I bought a FitBit today. Sort of! I followed Tetris' advice and checked eBay for second hand/nearly new ones and have been following a few to see that sort of prices the finish - seem to be around £50. Today I checked for new listings and spotted one from Currys PC World. It was an "open box" one, so could have been ex-display or a return, and was on offer for £41 with free delivery and they allow returns. So I very quickly converted some nectar points in to eBay vouchers and only had to add £3! :D Awesome!! Can't wait for it to arrive. Should be here next week, just in time for for my next working weekend ;)
 
I hurt my finger yesterday. Got it caught in the door of an overhead cupboard and it's gauged a big hole in the skin and it's all bruised and sore :( Makes a change from getting scratched or head butted I suppose lol!

Have told a couple of friends about my adventure. Everyone seems to think I will be fine. I wish I had their confidence in me.
I got an email back from a company I contacted about a ghost walk. But they don't do them so early in the year - bugger :( But there are some guided winter walks available, so could consider that. Tbh tho I think I have enough tings I want to see lol. It's just the evening stuff I'm worried about really. But I do think Friday will be a nice tea out and then to relax in my room quite early on - I'll be knackered after a full day of travelling, I'll be leaving the house at around 5:30am! There are loads of cinema's so was thinking tea, cinema, maybe stop for a drink on the way back. Sunday, dunno lol.
Anyway, I have almost 2 months to plan really. But you know I like to plan ;)

Going to have a bit of a rest day today. Need to sort the bunnies, make my lunches for the weekends, and have a shower. Should probably hoover too at some point! x
 
Friday food. EE day.

Lunch:
Quorn mince
Tin of ravioli (2) with spinach added
Cheese (half HexA)
1 slice of wholemeal toast (half HexB)
Salad - rocket, spinach, watercress, and spicy beetroot.

Tea: Fajita "chicken"
Quorn pieces, red onion, peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn, plum cherry tomatoes, garlic, red chili, smoked paprika, tomato puree, & chipotle sauce.
Plain long grain rice
Feta (rest of HexA)

Snack:
1 Alpen Light (rest of HexB)
Malteser Bunny (8)

Drinks:
Coffee, Diet Coke,

Syns used: 10
Syns saved: 31

Exercise:
Big bunny clean
Garden de-poo
Lots of dishes
Cleaned the kitchen worktops & hob
Emptied all the bins/sorted recycling
Hoovered all of downstairs
 
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I'm probably not going to be around much for the next couple of days.
I have the Tellington Touch course in Manchester all weekend and we're all off out for tea for Martin's b'day tomorrow night.

Food-wise I will probably have porridge or Weetabix before I leave and I'll be grabbing a coffee along the way somewhere.
For lunches I've made a big tuna pasta salad with peppers & sweetcorn and a salad with some feta.
Apparently we'll be provided with refreshments, so I'll see how that goes ;)
Martin's birthday is at Brewdog, a beer bar. They do a mean veggie burger apparently! And I'm getting a lift, so can have a beer or two.
I will try and salvage it a bit on Sunday anyway and I do have rather a lot of saved syns, so not too worried :)
 
Well done you! Being very shy myself I understand how big a thing your Oslo trip is and that's without the 'complication' of ME. What with that and your dog handling course this weekend, you are doing really well in putting yourself into different situations. We're assured by experts that the more we put ourselves into situations where we have to deal with new people, the easier it gets... The dog handling course must be great for you because you know you have at least one thing in common with everyone else on it and you can always fuss with the dogs if you don't want too much human communication!

Yep, I'm another one who always goes armed with a book to hide behind!
 
Hey guys!
What a weekend :D I promise not to go in to tonnes of detail over the course. But, what I will say is that TTouch is magic! Absolute wizardry LOL! Honestly, it's incredible.
We didn't just cover TTouch and groundwork, but also coaching and relaxation for us poor humans, some quick and easy training distractions, handling techniques, all sorts. Fantastic!
I tried some TTouches with the dogs on Saturday night. They loved it. You should have seen Pinta's face! They both really liked it. Not sure on the ear work, but that can take some time.
Can't wait to try out some lead work and groundwork and stuff with Pinta!!! She's getting spayed today *wibble* so will have a good few days off, having stress holidays, so I can start some of the training at home to keep her busy while she can't really go out.

After dropping Pinta off this morning I came back and got Dave. We met my friend Caz with her dogs, Lulu & Mort, and we had a bloody good walk. We only ever stroll with Caz, so when she left for work we did a bit more. I tried some training with Dave while we were out and it was a BIG hit ;)
I had the dogs doing synchronised training last night lol.

Thanks for the kind words Patty. I think most people would understand where I'm coming from. Maybe not specifically, but we all have "stuff" don't we?!
Everyone on the course got on really well and most people were in very similar positions. There were a couple of trainers who came just for information and a few people had dogs who were only mildly reactive.
There weren't many dogs there tho, any that came were there for reactivity problems, aggression, anxiety, etc so only their owners handled them. I did get to practice a few Ttouches on a little border terrier, but everything else was hands off.
We did practice a lot on humans ;) We led each other around on training leads, had to be blindfolded and lead around a small obstacle course, and practiced Ttouches and body wraps!!
So no doggies to cuddle. I didn't take mine - I'm not insane :p

We've been given some ideas of fun training we can do with our dogs and Scentwork was mentioned a lot. There's going to be a 2 day scentwork workshop run by the woman/company we were recommended at Dogs Trust Manchester in October. I'm seriously considering it. Even if Pinta isn't ready for that then, I can take Dave and then teach Pinta. You can go as an "observer" without a dog, but I think something like that you really do need a dog I think. plus, scentwork is not something I have ANY experience of, so would be starting as a newbie.
Caz is really interested too. Could be SO much fun! It's a bit expensive, but all dog stuff is really.

I even got a chance to be a VCA yesterday (even when I'm not at work eh?!) A little dog slipped of his owners knee and bumped his head, it really wasn't a bad one. And he went in to a full-on vestibular episode. There was NO vet trained staff or people on the course other than me. So I triaged him, checked his vitals, etc while the training lady did some Ttouches with him to keep him calm. The staff took the dog off to see their off-site vet. He's fine. He came back and finished the day - mostly asleep lol. Poor little dog :(

I think with the Oslo trip I'm more worried about my anxiety and depression, rather than the ME. It will effect me, course it will! But unless I'm having a REALLY bad day I can generally cope - even with the brain fog and confusion. But the other nasty voices going on will be the issue. I can just try can't I?! I said to a few people the worst that will happen is I will be too worried to go out and spend 3 nights in a really nice hotel ;)

Oh and my Fitbit arrived!! The description was "open box" and it explained all the conditions it could be in. My "open box" was completely sealed, never been opened, but the little sticky plastic disc on top has been peeled back a bit ..... I got that for HALF the RRP... Complete and utter bargain!! I assumed it would maybe have been a customer return or an ex display or something. Not completely new, unused, never been touched lol. Awesome :D Made up with it!!

My munchy monster appeared over the weekend. Not surprising considering how exhausted I was and how much I had to use my brain. Not anywhere near the worst weekend I've ever had and it was pretty restrained. I did get a Nutella filled cookie from Starbucks tho on Sunday, that was probably my naughtiest thing really.

Back to it this week!! Nothing off plan planned or anything. Plus, I'm skint so probably won't be doing much or buying much lol!xx
 
Monday food: EE day

Morning:
Banana and Matcha shot with orange juice (1)

Lunch:
2 free Linda M sausages
Beans
Cheesy scrambled eggs with mushrooms & red peppers (half HexA)
Fried cherry tomatoes
Wholemeal toast (HexB)
Tomato sauce (1)

Break at work:
Tangerine

Tea:
Quorn pieces, red onion, mushrooms, peppers, sweetcorn, cherry tomatoes, and spicy stuff
Mexican rice
Spinach
Dressing (1)
Feta (rest of HexA)

Snacks:
Bag of mini Cadbury's Fingers (5)

Drinks:
Coffee. Squash.

Syns used: 8
Syns saved: 7

Exercise:
4hrs at work
1hr40/2.9mile walk with Dave
 
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Grrrr!! No lie in again. My nan has been taken to hospital. Basically because she has been refusing to go see a Dr and has gotten really ill. My Mum's sister who sees her a lot is f*cking useless (the one who didn't take her to hospital when she fell and spent 12 hours on the floor!) and wouldn't do anything.
Anyway, useless Sister has been this morning and found her struggling to breathe and turning blue - FFS! She didn't take her the hospital straight away tho, I mean why would you?! :/ She called her older Sister who is not on this planet any more and housebound in a wheelchair.... Then called her Sister who lives in Cornwall - useful. A couple of hours later finally decides to call Mum, the only person who could help!
I got up, checked Pinta and fed the dogs, and then gave Mum a lift to where she can get a bus straight to the hospital. I dropped her off at Costa and made her promise she would get something to eat and drink. By then I'd been awake well over an hour, so no hope of more sleep.
I'm sat on the couch with my moose blanket and the dogs - well, Pinta is on her bed by me.

Pinta's doing great. She was very wobbly and spaced out last night - but she had had sedation, anaesthetic, and 3 doses of a morphine-like painkiller as well as an anti-inflammatory. So yeah, she was well in Pink Elephant Land by the time we were coming home. She wouldn't even look at me when I got in to work and refused to eat. A bit later I sat with her, did some Ttouches, and she ate the whole lot :)
I got her to eat a couple of small meals of pasta, ham, and chicken, and she did settle.
She's a bit more like herself this morning. She brought me a toy when I came in and she's been in and out to the garden. She wont get on the couches tho and sit with me. I even picked her up, in case she was too painful to stretch up, but she jumped straight back down LOL! I've brought her bed in from the kitchen and put it in a spec she likes in the living room :)
She's a bit whingy and quiet today, not surprising. But she's doing great. And the inflatable buster collar is fantastic. I'm glad I trained her to wear it last week, but she seems very comfortable with it.

Back in work this afternoon on a late. Another very long day. And I have an ME appointment at the hospital tomorrow morning so no lie-in again :'(
 
Tuesday food: EE day.

Breakfast:
Banana and Activia 0%

Lunch:
BIG omelette stuffed with red onion, mushrooms, red & yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes, spinach, and cheese (half HexA)
Seasoned potato chunks
Extra light mayo & tomato sauce (1.5)

Break at work:
Tangerine

Tea:
2 veggie burgers (2) topped with gherkins and cheese (rest of HexA)
"Fried" red onion, mushrooms, and red peppers
Tomato and herb Pasta N Sauce
Rocket & baby leaf salad with "posh" beetroot and dressing (1)

Snacks:
Graze Brilliant Black Forest (5)
Chewy Delight (HexB)

Drinks:
Coffee. Diet Orangeade. Matcha made with orange juice (1) Diet Coke.

Syns used: 10.5
Syns saved: 11.5

Exercise:
Sorting the bunnies.
Garden de-poo.
4hrs at work.
 
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That TTouch sounds fantastic; I'm not surprised you wanted to go on the course - and also want to do more. It'll be great if Caz goes with you.

Pleased everything went OK with Pinta but not pleased about your Nan. Can you get a plan of action drawn up that the sister has to follow should this happen again? Whatever, I hope Nan recovers.

What a bargain on the Fitbit!
 
The course was fantastic and I will be looking out for more TTouch related talks/workshops. I would LOVE to train as a TTouch Practitioner, but it is a 2-3yr process and the training seminars alone would cost upwards of £2,000. I have found that they do a training course/certificate for professionals working with animals who want more training, but maybe not wanting to do the whole practitioner course. there aren't any dates at the moment, but I've signed up to the mailing list. No idea on cost, but surely much less than £2k lol!!
I've always wanted to do more training and interesting things with the dogs, but Ellie was never ever capable of being in a social situation. But I am determined to at least get Pinta to a point where she can cope and work in a controlled situation. It's actually pretty exciting to have been loaded up with training and handling ideas. i do like a project ;)
But like I said with the Scentwork training in Oct, if Pinta isn't there yet, I can take Dave and then teach them both. And doing these things has made me realise that I have neglected Dave's training because he is so good. But that's daft and he responds very well to training, as he proved yesterday, and why shouldn't he get to do all these cool things?! So exciting for both I think lol!
Rambling again aren't I?! You can tell I'm super in to behaviour and training can't you?! LOL!

The situation with my nan is a difficult one because, and this will sound awful, I don't really care. I'm so disinterested in my Mum's family, except the one nice Auntie/family. I will do things for Mum and be there for her, but the rest of them? Nope. And I know that sounds horrible, but this has been going on for a very long time and they turned their backs on us when we needed them most. I have no love for them, I really don't. So I'm not getting involved with it and keeping my distance.
I hope that makes sense and it's understandable. I'm not a heartless, uncaring person, but the circumstances are complicated.
I just hope Mum's ok. She was calling in sick to work today anyway and now this has happened. So frustrating!

I'm loving my Fitbit. Although I am very skeptical of how accurate it is. The calorie burning I will be taking virtually no notice of I think. Judging by what you said about that recent article I can see what you mean. I do wonder how accurate that is! The Steps/distance seems about right and roughly matches my dog walking app. I did have a very busy day yesterday and beat a few of the pre-set targets, like steps/distance/calories :)
It is very interesting looking at all the stats and stuff.x
 
Hello, it looks like you've had a busy week :)

Well done on going on the TTouch course and it sounds as though you loved every minute of it, I'm sure what you've learnt will benefit Pinta :)

Your trip to Oslo sounds amazing, you'll have a blast :D You cope so well with your ME and depression, I'm sure you'll be fine.

Poor Pinta :( Hope you she's and running soon, Tia was murder when she had hers done she wouldn't keep still and was running around like a lune, I thought she was going to do herself some damage. It must have been nice to have some you and Dave time though :)

Which Fitbit did you get? I love mine, don't pay any attention to the calories at all, I just use it for the steps, distance and mapping walks on the phone app.

I understand what you mean about your nan, I'm like that with most of my family. I hope your mum is ok though and it's not too much for her.

I hope you're ok after such a better a busy week, I feel tired just reading everything you've done x x x
 
I am exhausted Barbette!! My head is so painful and I feel sick and it really does feel like my eyes are going to give up and just fall out.... *dramatic*

But, on saying that, work was alright today. Very calm, not much going on, and I spent the last hour satat a computer illegally printing things I needed printing ;) I got the info booklet for the course I just did and my Oslo holiday confirmations LOL! Then argued with the computer for a while because it was being a t*t ....

I didn't get much time with animals today ... weird! But I did try some Ttouch on a dog that came in for the private team who was being hospitalised for neck pain. He looked so sad and he was walking really stiffly and he couldn't lift his head. While the vet set up his fluids (student, so she wants to do everything ;)) I knelt on the floor with him and did some very light Ttouches around his shoulders and along his spine. He let out a sigh, lied down, and put his head over one of my arms so I could cradle him :eek: He didn't flinch at the fluids and when I led him to his kennel I tried the "stroking the lead" technique so that it wouldn't pull on his collar (who puts a collar on a dog with neck pain?!!) and he trotted next to me! He turned away when I tried to show him in to his kennel, he just went the wrong way, so I did it again and he turned himself round, and walked in next to me beside my leg. Holy crap!! F*cking magic ;)

I emailed the Ttouch people about the course I'm interested in and I got a reply from Sarah Fisher herself!! The UK's TTouch ambassador btw. I NEED to talk to work and see if us lowly VCA's have a training budget or not. And I need to put across as nicely as possible that even though I am very happy where I am and what I'm doing I also don't want to stand still and not learn or follow my interests. I mean if I wanted to train as a juggler or something you could understand, but the things I want to do will benefit my work life SO much, as well as my own life. Plus, I don't want to have to leave this job to find somewhere that would support and appreciate the things I want to do. Any private practice would literally leap at the chance to have a VCA trained in holistic care and canine behaviour. Don't see why my place should be different.

I hope Pinta isn't racing round and back to normal too soon. She has 9 more days to get through before she can go back to being a loon - stitches out time!! She does seem very comfy, just itchy at the moment.

I got a Fitbit Flex :) I really like it so far, but I am very skeptical about how accurate they are. But, whatever, I like it lol! And it was an absolute bargain and I have one for all my adventures now. Maybe when I go to Oslo it will start telling me to "sit the f*ck down for a bit" :p

It looks like my Nan has something going on with her liver, due to her not having a gallbladder any more. She's back home now and Mum's back too. she's going to have an MRI and ultrasound on Thursday. She's fine. Been given anti-emetics and pain killers.

My Oslo hotel is scary!! Really scary!! But I am so bloody independent now, how amazing a difference a few years and pushing yourself makes eh? :) I am pretty sure i will be fine in the day time at least. And lets face it, if that means I end up grabbing a quick tea and relaxing in my room with a film or reading at the end of the day, that's hardly a terrible thing!! I will be going the cinema once, it's quite expensive (as is everything in Scandi-land) so probably just the once. And that only leaves me with 2 free nights. And I do reckon on my first night I'll be shattered and wont want to go out, so another night down lol!
Yes, I over think everything.....

Oh yes, I had a fantastic time with Dave yesterday. He is an absolute joy to be out with anyway and so easy to walk. It was great to see him react so positively to the training games! I have also ordered him a proper lead too so I can do some TTouch groundwork with him and also use the handling techniques I've learned. He can keep his Flexi for parks and stuff, I don't want him on a short lead the whole time, but it will be great to see how he does on the "proper" walking :)

Right, an ep of Grey's Anatomy and then off to bed before my eyes really do fall out ....
Night all and lovely to see you.xx
 
I understand where you're coming from with family issues; hope your mum's coping ok.

I would certainly ask about help towards training expenses for more TTouch courses, particularly as you've seen how much it helps in your job. You might need to give a few demos to prove it though.

Hope your head and eyes are improved this morning. With all that's going on you're doing well with sticking to plan.
 
Wednesday food - EE day

Lunch:
Tuna pasta salad
Tuna, red onion, peppers, gherkins, pasta, and extra light mayo (1)
Rocket & baby leaf salad, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, posh beetroot, feta (half HexA), dressing (0.5)

Tea: Got a bit carried away. I was STARVING!
2 Quorn Southern Fried burgers (5) topped with cheese (rest of HexA) and spicy fried red onion, red peppers, and mushrooms.
Low fat supernoodles
A few seasoned potato chunks
Veg bag - sweetcorn, broccoli, and carrots
Extra light mayo, tomato sauce, and mustard (1)

Snacks:
Small bowl of kiwi, grapes, blueberries, and 1/2tsp of orange blossom honey (0.5) with an Activia 0%
WW Caramel Wafer (4)

Drinks:
Coffee. Coke Zero. Diet Orangeade.

Syns used: 12
Syns saved: 14.5

Exercise:
Walking to and from the hospital (I found a free spec outside the grounds!)
1mile/25min walk with Dave.
 
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Another busy day!
I suppose I did have a bit of a lie-in compared to work, but not enough. And I woke up a few times too.
I had another CFS/ME appointment this morning. It was a really lovely session actually and my therapist was really impressed with the progress I'm making, not just ME-wise, and we chatted about dog sledding for quite a bit! Always nice to find a fellow dog-sledder, it's not like it happens often in this country LOL! She's going to make me an appointment for 2 months time so that my work changes should have finally started and I can work on my exercise and odd in the odd short jog. I think next time we're going to look at me going swimming once a week too. And, as always, working on my sleep issues!
I didn't tell her about my Oslo trip - I'm not telling too many people otherwise I will start feeling it as pressure. But how amazing will it be to go back in May and tell her I did that?!!
She was also impressed with me using a walking app and Fitbit to try and track my good and bad days and thinks it will be really useful to look at and reflect on and also look for patterns.

I was supposed to pick up Caz from work and take Dave out with her dogs. I got to her work and I had a text on my phone to tell me the thing she was doing (management training type thing) was taking longer than she expected. After 40mins I eventually got some messages to say that she was stuck in a different store and she had no idea when she'd be back. Balls!! So I took Dave to a nice park on the way back and we had a relaxed, muddy walk.
I left Pinta with a Kong toy filled with treats and peanut butter - she's still working on it now!!!! So I think that's a good distraction for if I'm taking Dave for a longer than normal walk. Low fat peanut butter as well btw ;) Just for the dog! I have to pretend it's invisible when I see it in the cupboard now. It's like my diet Kryptonite....

Patty I'm not really sure how to handle work with asking about the training. Most people wouldn't already have some training in the thing they wanted to do, if that makes sense? And I'm not sure I know enough to be able to do a demo. I guess my first step is to find out if VCA's do have some sort of a training budget. If not, then I guess I'm not going on holiday next year!

I might have just booked myself on to a one day TTouch course in June.... *whistles* £50, so not so bad really! The odd one like that I don't mind paying for. But the one I want for work (Cool to be Kind) is £580 without food/accommodation and it is at Sarah Fishers farm in Bath, so obv quite a distance for fuel! And the course is spread over two sessions. So I'd have to do 3 days near the beginning of the year and then go back for another 3 later on. So I am probably looking at least a couple of hundred quid on top of the course fee's for each trip.
I really want to book on to the Scentworks course, but I'd have to pay £150 upfront. But I need to make sure I have spending money for Oslo and the rest of the deposit for Tenerife is due in March. I'll prob have to wait and hope there are spaces left in a couple of months or so.

I'm still very very painful today. My neck and shoulders have joined in too. Joy! xx
 
So glad your appointment went well, it's not a shock to hear you're doing really well you put me to shame most of the time the stuff you do.

I have 2 of those Kong balls but Sam gets the treats out in minutes, he also chomps his way through bones the same way. I think it's the staffie in him, he loves chewing stuff luckily not our stuff just his toys.

Sounds like you've got a busy year this year :) I would ask work, the worst they can say is no.

Sorry to hear you're still in pain, hope it gets better for you x x x
 
Aww thanks Barbette. I think sometimes you need someone to tell you that you ARE doing well. I'm a huge self-doubter and I'd imagine most of us probably are. You always think everyone else is better than you *blush*
She did say she's amazed at my progress and usually by the time she gets a patient to do 1 to 1's with they have done nothing, can't cope, aren't managing, not in work, etc... But, everyone is different.
We discussed my very stubborn streak today. It is good for me, most of the time.... *whistles*

Dude, my life compared to just your crazy work looks relaxing LOL!

I have several different things made by Kong. We have classic Kongs, a cubey Kong with slats down the side (today's saviour), a Kong "stick" that squeaks and has holes in for treats, a big Kong Wobbler that's a bit like a dog version of a Weeble, and a Squeaky Kong Bone which Dave adores and is a little git and guards. Kongs, Nylabones, and Stagba's are my favourite. But they have a lot of others.
Pinta is very quick at getting things out of stuff, but the peanut butter slowed her down immensely today. Very impressed ;)
A good trick with Kongs is to cover the ends with the likes of peanut butter or spread cheese. And freezing them well slows the dog down.

Busy might be a slight understatement. I feel very tired just thinking about it!! LOL!
I might have had a thought of how I can book the Scentwork workshops now, if there are spaces. Have emailed the lady who's running it :)

The pain is getting on my nerves now. I will get a lie-in tomorrow but Mum is staying at my Nan's, so I will have to disturb my sleep at some point to let the dogs out and feed them. Nightmare trying to get back to sleep after that!

I'm in work a whopping 3hrs next week (lol) So will try and grab my boss or the head vet for a quick chat and show them the course info. The thing is, there isn't an awful lot of info for it! And I don't feel like I know enough about TT to go on about it in detail. Hrmph :/
 
YAY! Got me and Davey on to a TTouch workshop in June. Awesome :D

I have emailed the lady doing the Scentworks course in Oct too for some advice/details.

Exciting! Finally being able to drive is useful apart from going to work and the shops ;)

I'd better go to bed. Eyeballs are on the verge again ;)
Night lovely ladies.xx
 
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