"There is a sacredness in tears.  They are not the mark of weakness, but of power.  They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues.  They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love." -- Washington Irving.

Hello my fabulous DietBet friends!  It's been awhile since I've posted and thought I would fill you in!  I think I shared with all of you that my family dog of 9 1/2 years had a tumor and an amputation was eminent.  He had that amputation and although I am an extremely optimistic person, I had a gut feeling that wasn't the end of it as we were also told at the time that there was a small spot on his lung.  My husband and I agreed we did not want to put him through chemotherapy due to what he had just gone through.  We agreed to have x-rays done again at his 4 week follow-up visit.  When he went back for a follow-up after the amputation, we found that this small spot had grown in size by 20%. This was a Thursday.  They told us he had about 1-3 months of life left and that there would be signs.  We joked that the only sign we would ever need is for Baxter to not want food.  Baxter has NEVER missed a meal, even when he was ill.  On that Sunday, I noticed he was lacking energy.  At dinner we called him over to eat and he wouldn't come.  He then made a couple of strange gasps and my husband and I knew it was time.  We unfortunately never thought it would be only 3 days later.  It was a heart breaking night for both of us.  As we promised, we were there with him to the end and never left his side.  It was an overwhelmingly sad time for us and I have cried until there are no tears left.  Even though there is a definite happiness and energy lacking in our household, we know he is no longer suffering and he is somewhere running around with all 4 legs anxiously waiting for us to see him again. 

Baxter's death was followed by a week long illness and high temps for my little girl of which I caught the following week.  I guess you can say we've had a big dose of real life hit us the last 2 months!!

Here's the thing though.... I am a positive person.  I believe in God, happiness and positive thinking.  Although I needed my time to grieve and to get my household well, I have not given up on myself or any of you.  My workouts have continued and I am feeling the drive to continue to motivate others.  My promise to you all is that I will not leave your side until we finish this thing together!  I am now 1 1/2 weeks from finishing Insanity Max and I'm also training for my Cap City 1/2 Marathon.  I was feeling SO motivated that I have already signed up for the Chicago 1/2 Marathon in September!  What am I thinking??? lol.

I thank you Les and Odette for reaching out to me.  You kind comments really make a world of difference and I truly appreciate them!!!  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go give Shaun T a whoopin'!!!!

Missed you all!  :)