Hi everybody- I've missed you all, and will start this diet up again tomorrow. Been a rough two weeks. First, we lost our beloved Black Lab, Leenie. We had her for ten years, she jumped into and died in my arms right where she belonged, just before midnight two weeks ago tonight. Shattered my heart into a billion and one pieces, and the rest of the family misses her, too. She was such a sweetheart of a dog- so loving, fun, and friendly. Even people that didn't like dogs liked her. Just got her ashes back the other day, I got so emotional all over again. Heart breaking to lose them.

Then, the next day, my son almost passed out during a blood test. They're trying to figure out why his blood pressure is all over the place. He flunked part of a neurological exam the doctor gave him, and the doctor is very worried about him. So off to a neurologist AND my son has to have an Echo gram on his heart. He is very upset at not being able to run for his Cross Country team in high school, and it's breaking my heart. Someone has had to be with him 24/7 for last couple of weeks, in case he passes out. It has been hell on earth, let me tell you. Scary part is that he has several symptoms of a brain tumor, and I do believe that that is what the doctor is leaning towards. This doctor is not my favorite because he can be a real jerk. He was on when the incident happened to my son. For the first time ever, in the ten years that I've known him, he showed compassion and caring. Usually, this doctor blames patients for their medical issues and is very rude and cold to them. For him to be concerned just scares me to pieces, as well as my husband. Please say a prayer for him? If you don't believe in God, maybe send good thoughts his way? I'd really appreciate them! Thanks!

My oldest daughter- we've got her a car two weekends ago, it's been in the shop since then with a gas leak. Our friend just finished working on it, so tomorrow we are going to register it and have it inspected. Luckily, she has tomorrow off from college and will get this done with her Dad in the morning.

I also started a new job (can you see where I went off the diet for a couple of weeks, LOL). It's ok, but I wish the client that I worked for was more friendly and less snappy. Oh, well, it's a good job that fits my schedule, worse comes to worse, I'll just have to find another one.

Oh, and we got two new kittens the a few days after Leenie died. We did plan on getting one before she had died, as my son has wanted an orange kitten for years. I've been trying forever to find one. My son is partial to girl cats. Well, my oldest daughter's friend's cat had kittens. Of course, two were orange and the other two were calico kitties. Well, of course, my son didn't know which to chose, as the calico kitties were female and the orange kitties were male, so as you can guess it, we came home with two of them.

Yesterday, I thought that they got out, as I saw two kitties in our drive way that looked like them. At that same time, my black cat was stuck up in a tree. Funniest thing ever, between my husband trying to get the cat out twice in his bucket truck (thank goodness he's an electrician and has one!), meanwhile, my neighbor, my kids, husband, and I tried to coax these little kittens out from under the engine of his daughter's friend's car. Of course, the car was locked, and the friend who dropped the car off was camping with his daughter and other friends, so we couldn't open the hood up to get them out. Today, they got them and put them in one of our crates- they had to use fish nets and oven mitts to tray and catch them. My neighbor is going to take them to a no kill shelter. My husband and neighbor won't let me bring them in the house, as they know that if they come in my house, they ain't leaving! Don't worry, they are being well loved and well fed while my neighbors wait to take them to the shelter. My neighbor told me that they are really wild and scared, and he's afraid it would upset my household of cats/kittens and dogs, if we brought them in. I saw them earlier today- I really, really, really am tempted to bring them home with me. Oh, and guess what color they are? Orange, of course! Took me almost a year to find my son an orange cat or kitten (long story, had four others that were coming home, but........). Now, we have one of our own, and had two babies in the yard. Crazy, huh?

So sorry this post is so long. Just wanted to let you know that I haven't left you all or abandoned CAD. Just took a detour until things settle back down. I am going to start up again tomorrow. Believe it or not, I MISSED eating this diet the past two weeks. Luckily, I didn't gain it all back, but frustrated that I had to go off of it for a couple of weeks.

So, here's to CAD/CALP, round two!

Audrey

PS- hope everyone is doing well. I some reading to catch up on on here!