Sick.  I actually got sick.  I enjoy being able to say "I don't get sick" and taking a strong stance, but this one snuck up on me.  I didn't sleep much last night as a result.  I just felt gross and my stomach was upset.  Then it happened.  Yup, I got up in the middle of the night to be sick.  I'm still feeling a bit weak and off, but I'm only at about the 10 hour mark from said event and maybe 13 hours into not feeling great.  Hopefully this is a 24 hour thing.

I'm supposed to be getting a flu vaccine tonight (don't get me started - I'm not a fan, but I always worry that I'd give something to Avery and I'd never forgive myself).

Avery had a bit of an issue (with vomiting) last week, but I thought it was food not processing (which happened to her once before). Did it take that long for this to get me?

This weekend my little town hosted their Oktoberfest.  It gets listed in some places as one of the better ones in the US, so we got that going for us (in addition to being the biggest 4th of July parade in PA).  While they don't have Alex Meixner (see, they have room to improve), they do have some decent music and good food.  That said we headed down there (twice) this weekend.

The weather has been rather hot for the second half of September.  Fortunately, it's been pretty cool in the mornings, so I've been able to get some walks in with Saffy lately to get some exercise in before I start work.  I'm not wishing the nice weather away, but I am eager to see the autumn leaves and put on the Halloween gear (and most of it is long sleeve or long pants).

I've not made great strides on the weight loss.  But I have been away from the elliptical for a week.  My left foot has been hurting me.  I've had a stress fracture before, and I don't want to go there, so I'm giving her a break.  Unfortunately, simply walking (neighborhood or treadmill) just isn't enough - and there have been days where I've walked the neighborhood 3x a day (each trip is approx a 30 min walk at around 3mph - that should be close to a 100 calorie burn).  But I'm not gaining, so that's something, right?  *sigh*  The estimates on the food tracker now say I'd reach my goal by Dec 26.  We're almost 2 months behind because it just isn't happening.  As I've stated before, the lack of progress sure makes it hard to keep at it with gusto.  I need more hours in my day.

Speaking of, I also started using duolingo again to try and make some progress on my knowledge of Italian.  Being as competitive as I am, the fact that the app now shows you leaderboards I've been doing quite well and getting my time in each day.  It also leaves me thinking about it throughout the day, I guess that's a good way to reinforce. I need to sit down and write some stuff down to solidify a few things.  I think that really helped me back in high school with Spanish class:  to see how a verb conjugates (io mangio, lui mangia, noi mangiamo?, voi mangiano?) ugh, it's a struggle. I need to get them set in my head.

Aside:  how do the languages like Italian or Spanish, that use masculine/feminine deal with some of the issues now a days? Also, why in Italian can cats be masculine (i gatti) or feminine (le gatte)?

On Sunday evening Ben found a bump on Safyre.  With all of that fur it was kind of hard to see what we're looking at, so I shaved a little spot to take a closer peek. It looked like a raised mole but it wasn't perfectly round, so it had me concerned. Our friend Google didn't ease my concerns fully, so I decided to make a vet appointment.

I took Saffy to the vet today.  She may have chomped at it a bit, as the top layer wss loose. The vet quickly checked it and noted that it was a cyst. We then had our own episode of Doctor pimple popper on our hands.

I came home with the topical powder to ensure it heals properly, and alittle lighter in my wallet -- but feeling a lot better. Saffy really is my best buddy. I love her dearly and she needs to live forever.

Ya know, when I get to walk away from that desk, life is pretty good.  I'm not saying it to brag, just to remind myself, instead of focusing on the "next thing" that I may want to do or buy or achieve.

I have a sweet and beautiful little girl who is sometimes (smile) willing to give me a hug that melts the rest away.  Now that it's cooled off a bit, I can stroll through the neighborhood as Avery points out the birds or as bats start to come out for the evening.  When she is tucked into bed, on the nights that I don't have to work out (which is much less often than I'd prefer), I can sit on the back porch near the fire pit with my fuzzy girls and relax.  Now that my back isn't barking, I can curl into my cozy bed and even lounge a bit on Saturday mornings with my girl still in her PJs.  While my friends don't live close, I have some really good people in my life.  I am beyond blessed in that regard.  Life is good.

I'm always proud to say I'm loyal to Royal, but they keep giving me new reasons:  https://www.cruisehive.com/royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-is-first-to-make-urgent-delivery-to-freeport/34216

Like I wasn't already itching to book another cruise?