A challenging end to my day

Today was my early day, in order to get to dance class.  I got lots done at work with only average stress, so that was good.  I got out on time and came home to find that Schmart Dog can't really get up right now.  She's always had a bad left hind leg since I've had her (about five years, she was about 8 when she came to live with me) and now she has what I'm hoping is a temporary strain to her right front leg.  She didn't even lift her head up when I came in the door, just thumped her tail.  She got up but was limping heavily -- she can't put full weight on her back leg and now she can't put weight on her front leg on the opposite side.  I  have stairs going down to the yard and she can't get down those right now so it's been challenging.  I'm trying not to imagine the worse, but financially I can't do a big vet bill and that is weighing heavily on my mind.  Do I lose my dog because I can't afford to fix her?  Argggh.  I got her to get down an aspirin and I've been massaging her leg and shoulder so I hope that helps and that this is all just temporary.  If it's not, I just don't know what I will do.

Well, to try to hit a lighter side and take my mind off things, I visited the gym I'm interested in last night and even before they've done their renovations it's pretty good.  It will be great once they finish everything.  Y'all, they will have cardio machines with their own TV screens.  You can get TV or plug in your iPod and see that on the screen.  They have a virtual personal trainer and it talks to you and you can choose different scenarios and then plug in different visuals to go with them.  Amazing.  I got a three-day pass so tomorrow I'm going to go run there and see how it goes.  The indoor track is the biggest selling point for me; I have a treadmill at home but I've outgrown it training-wise.  The track at the college is so very close, a ten minute walk each way, but I really do not like getting there or running in the dark since there are a lot of wooded areas close by.  The gym should be a 15 minute drive max each way around 6:00 a.m.; it's a straight shot down Barbur from me if you're a Cilleyland person.   Plus free parking -- and out of the rain!  My mom said she'll chip in a for a couple of months of dues and right now I can sign up with only a $1 enrollment fee plus lock in pre-construction rates; about $65 per month now versus the $85-$90 they anticipate once the renovations are complete.

Can you tell I'm about 98% convinced I'm joining?

Since I didn't go to class tonight to stay home and keep an eye on my pup, I took advantage of the extra time to make a recipe I found in the November issue of Cooking Light:  Sweet Potato and Butternut Gratin.  Oh my freaking god.  It turned out AMAZING.  Like, words can not describe the amazing of this dish.  Best of all?  As written, it's only 220 calories per 1/2 serving.  I say as written because I made some changes.  The store was out of pancetta when I was shopping for this so I used one slice of thick cut bacon.  No idea how the calories compare beween those two, but I also cut the butter down to 1 tablespoon (figured bacon had more grease than pancetta) and then used 1% milk instead of 2%.  My best guess is that either the calories would work out exactly the same or else I might have even shaved a few.  These were so good that I had a 1 cup serving for dinner AND I just logged in my calories for the day to see if I had room to eat more.  (I do, a whole 'nother 1 cup serving plus I'm having a glass of milk with it!)

And now I'm going to do just that so my computer can reboot itself.  And try to think only happy thoughts that my puppy will be well and fine soon.  And watch The Biggest Loser then get my bum to bed for workout tomorrow. 

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl