Monday, May 9, 2011

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

This weekend was great!  Like I mentioned in the last post, Saturday morning Scott and I woke up and went on a run.  We decided to grab pizza for a late lunch and ended up eating outside in the beautiful weather.  After getting home, we cleaned up a bit, relaxed, and then got ready to head to Frederick for my cousin's 17th birthday party.  Her birthday was Friday, but that was the same night as her prom.  I can't believe she's 17 already and I can't believe how beautiful she looked at prom!


My cousins Jordan and Sarah

My sister (Megan) and her fiance (Ben) were already at my parents' house when we arrived.  Dad and Mom both looked good.  Mom has even lost 5 lbs - I have no idea where she had 5 lbs to lose!  You can tell that my Dad is weak despite looking good.  He went to the doctor the day before and found out they had given him the wrong dosage of the medicine that helps to slow down his heart.  Apparently he was taking a double dose, two times a day!  Hopefully by reducing to the right amount, he'll be in better spirits.  The doctor nixed his fishing trip to Canada at the end of May.  I can tell he is disappointed; he loves going fishing, especially to Canada with his friends.  He's officially off work until June 6.  I hope he doesn't drive himself crazy in the meantime.  Once he returns to work, he'll be on light labor for 2 weeks. 

On Mother's Day, my Dad, Mom, and I met up with Megan and Ben at Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast.  Before you think, "WHOA, Dunkin' Donuts?!?! Didn't your Dad just have a heart attack???", simmer down!  At first we were trying to decide where we wanted to go.  Dad suggested the restaurant down the block, Mom wasn't a fan.  Although Dad wanted a pancake and he is allowed to have that, I think Mom was apprehensive about the other temptations of the restaurants.  Since it was Mother's Day, Mom decided to go with my suggestion of Dunkin' Donuts for iced coffee and a flat bread breakfast sandwich.  Let me tell you, I absolutely love Dunkin' Donuts' breakfast.  It's almost a bad habit!  However, I never feel guilty about my selection.  I typically get the turkey sausage, egg white, and spinach flat bread - no cheese.  If you follow Weight Watchers, the sandwich is 6 points - not bad considering in a day you are allowed 29 points.  If you don't want turkey sausage you can get a veggie egg white, not bad either.

I was nervous at first that my Dad wouldn't enjoy his sandwich and think too much about why he was eating the sandwich instead of a large pancake.  Verdict?  He actually enjoyed it!  See, you don't have to go to Dunkin' Donuts and indulge in a half dozen donuts or a greasy sausage sandwich!  Even without the cheese, the sandwich still has a lot of flavor and is filling, thanks to the whole grain flat bread.

My Dad's mother is a diabetic and my grandfather helps in tremendously in administering her medicines, taking her blood sugar each morning, and making sure her prescriptions are filled.  While visiting them yesterday, my grandfather pulled out his new electronic blood pressure cuff.  Of course, my Mom has to volunteer my father to have his blood pressure taken.  It turned into a blood pressure party, with each of us taking a turn putting the cuff on and taking each other's blood pressure.  I'm pretty sure mine was 116/78.

I can see in my Dad's mannerisms that he is experiencing a little depression.  He claims he's just tired but I think he is spending too much time reminding himself that he had a heart attack.  It's noticeable in the things he says.  My grandmother was telling a story about someone she knows with horrible eating habits.  As she detailed what her friend consumes in a normal day, my father made the comment that he never ate like that before and yet he's the one who has the heart attack.  If there's anything I've learned, genetics plays an important roll in ones' risk of heart attack. 

By the time I got home yesterday and began studying for my final exams, I decided I wasn't going to pressure myself into a gym trip.  I had ran the 3 previous days and planned to run tonight (Monday).  I decided to take the day off.  I have 2 finals tonight that I cannot wait to be over with!  I still need to study a little more, so I will be leaving work a little early to cram some more, then take my exams.  Hopefully I finish early and can get home before 7.

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