Day 23

11/12/08

Who knew Wild Singles were only a buck at the Dollar Tree??  It used to cost me a few beers!!  HAHA!!  They were my Hawaiian punch packets that you add to bottled water.  There is nothing in their name that has wild in it!  not the flavor, nothing!  I don't know where they got Wild Singles from, but it cracks me up!

Day 22

11/11/08

I was off for Veteran's Day so I stayed home and worked.  Did laundry, cleaned like crazy, did more laundry.  At some point in the afternoon I looked out back.  There was a river of water coming from the house behind the laundry room.  So I went outside and I find this crap!

Day 21

11/10/08

Puppy cam!  We've been watching this online at work for days now!  Omg, it's so addicting watching those cute little puppies playing, sleeping, fighting, eating, sleeping, playing....

Day 20

11/09/08

My friend had ankle surgery last month.  She has this bracey wrap thingy she wears and her toes are usually exposed.  It's just hilarious to me for some reason when she has a sock over her toes!

Day 16

11/05/08

Baby fish at one day before 5 weeks old.

Day 15

11/04/08  Voting Day!

Day 14

from 11/3/08.  I found this note on the floor of my car in the back.  It must have migrated out from deep under the seat....it's only over a year old!!  It was from a friend of mine when we went to stay with her for our family vacation in August.  2007!!  HAHAHA!!  yikes.

A Year in Photos - Day 12

This was the Only picture I took!  I was getting ready for a halloween party.  Sent this to my hubby while I was getting ready.

A Year in Photos - Day 11

Nathan at work made this little guy on the head of a tennis racquet and poked it over my cubicle wall.  OMG that thing was hilarious!  He had it rigged with a string and rubberband so that he could stick the tongue out and wiggle it and all that!  Holy crap that thing had me rolling!  Especially when I just hear my name called and look up and see This!!

A Year in Photos - Day 10

This month we had 3 birthdays.  We normally do individual cakes.   But it just didn't work out that way this month.  So I made one cake.  Me and my friend here decided we ought to divide the cake according to age.  So Danny, who is 20, got the smallest chunk.  Curis got the largest (just by a little) then Jack.  It was quite amusing! 

A Year in PHotos - Day 9

Ok, so the story behind this is last week me and one of the boys who works the front desk saw something on the roof with the security camera.  all we could see were the feet and it looked like a little dead body up there.  So he and another of the boys tried to get it last week but couldn't get on the roof.  So Tuesday when I was gone, one of them got up and retrieved the little guy.  Which we now know is a Wolfman.  So this is what I see strung up over my desk when I came in Wednesday morning.  With  the "el dan-o" signature card.  (Derived from el bart-o from the simpsons)  I decided since it's not in my way, he can stay up there indefinitely!

A Year in Photos - Day 8

We went to a funeral in Willard today.  This is the family window in the church.  On my dad's dad's side.

A Year in Photos - Day 7

Yes, on the 6th day I already forgot to take a picture! 

So Day 7 we were trying to get a picture of the kid in her curlers!  Joe got a good one on his camera phone.  This was the best one I got.

A Year in Photos - Day 5

We went to McCall's pumpkin patch for a friend's daughter's birthday.  I thought this pumpkin jumper just looked neat.

A Year in Photos - Day 4

I saw this on a car I parked behind at Big Lots.  I LOVE the Yoda one!!!  

A Year in Photos - Day 3

The first freeze of the year!   BBRRRR!!!!  I don't like it one bit!

A Year In Photos - Day 2

I got to see my hubby today!  It doesn't happen often, so I get quite giddy when it happens!  So I took a picture of his truck while I was waiting for him to unload.

A Year in Photos - Day 1

I've been hearing about this for quite some time.  I'd been debating doing it and I finally decided to just do it and stop thinking about doing it!  So today is my first day.  This was taken as I was heading home on my bike ride this morning.  It was still dark out and light was just starting to seep out from behind the mountains.

Back to the land of the living!

I think I'm ready to start in with the old routine again.  As far as our workouts go.  I haven't gone since I first got sick a month ago.  So I'm starting back up today.  I went for a bike ride this morning.  Fairly easy since I still get to coughing when I exert myself too much.  So I'll just have to take it easy until I fully recover.  I decided to do the morning ride because I need extra exercise.  What I've been doing just doesn't seem to help with the weight loss.  I felt the difference in my ability to do things and whatnot, but there wasn't much weight loss.  So I'm guessing I need to do more cardio work to burn more fat.  So, bike riding in the morning should help.  So we'll see how that works out.  

Xmas shopping

We did most of our xmas shopping this weekend!!  Wow!  This was my month for my extra paycheck and another one for Joe.  He gets paid every week....lucky!  So all the months that have 5 Wednesdays he gets an extra paycheck!  So I think that's 4 months a year.   Sheesh.  So anyway, since this was my month, we decided to do our xmas shopping.  Phew!!  We nearly got everything taken care of!  There are just a few random things here and there to pick up.  But for the most part everything is done!!  So those few things we still need are absolutely no big deal!!  A friend of mine just had surgery last week so she's still all drugged up.  I found something I thought she and her family would like so I asked to make sure she didn't have it already.  I'm counting on the drugs to help her forget so it'll still be a surprise in a couple months!  HAHAHA!!   But man, it was great!  No crowds.  Everything we wanted to get they had!  We found some great sales too.  Ahhh.....it's so nice to think that it's all behind us!!  Now we just have to wrap everything!!  Soon too before we forget what we got for whom!  HAHA!!!  

Sick & Tired

Tomorrow, it will be 4 weeks since I first went to the dr. with whatever crap I've got.

It started out in my nose and I possibly had a sinus infection. They gave me some antibiotics that made me totally nauseated so in addition to the crap-like feeling I was already experiencing I felt totally pukey. That was lovely.

A week later, it hadn't gone away, and they tell you, if it doesn't go away, come back. So on a Sunday, off I go to Urgent Care again. Oh, I had started coughing junk up at this point. So they took a chest x-ray just in case cuz the dr. who saw me said quite a few people had come in with pneumonia. No pneumonia for me. Bronchitis. So he gives me a stronger antibiotic. The 5 day zpack. Take that. Nothing really happens.

A week after that, on Monday, I go to the dr. again. Hmm...what could it be? I got some stronger cough medicine since that was still much of my problem. Again, not really doing much for me.

Another week passes, this past Tuesday I go to the dr. again. This one goes over all my past visits. Does a peak flow meter thing to check my lung output. That's fine. Does a strep test since by this time my throat is killing me. He decides that it can't be the same infection because a viral infection shouldn't last this long. There was also no reason for me to have had antibiotics when they said it was bronchitis since it's a virus. But since the antibiotics didn't do anything for that and didn't prevent anything further, it has to be 2 viruses I got. Back to back. Fun stuff. So, he pretty much said that the second one should be nearly done. He gave me more cough medicine since that is still my major issue. (I wonder if they are going to red flag me in the narcotics notebook at the pharmacy???) He pretty much just said to wait it out. Nothing we can do but help alleviate the symptoms. Sigh....hack....sigh...

Oh! I forgot, the most amazingly horrible thing happened yesterday! My throat is still hurting. I discovered the other day that blowing my nose kills my throat!! Yesterday I found out that sneezing makes my throat feel like it's exploding!!!! I swear I thought i was gonna die. It was one of the most painful things I've ever felt. Horrible horrible!

The Terrible Tweens

Nothing much really has been going on. Same ol same ol. Except the kid is starting to act like more of a teenager now.  In the midst of acting like a little kid of course!  It's just a bizarre time.   One night we were watching a movie that was PG-13.  I don't remember what it was, but it did have some adult themes and was a grown uppish sort of movie.  It wasn't so bad that we felt she couldn't watch it.  But she was holding her teddy bear throughout it.  Just that made me feel like we shouldn't be watching it.  Her sitting there like a little kid clutching her teddy, I felt we should have been watching Cinderella or something.  It was odd.  

And now she has a "boyfriend" at school.  That's not so bad.  She even asked if she could.  Joe & I talked about it and we had boyfriends and girlfriends in school that were just at school.  You just went around at school holding hands or whatever and that was pretty much it.  And the schools these days have "touching" policies where you can't (or aren't supposed to) have PDA.  But no one is watching 100% of the time.  But still, we didn't think that was so bad.  We were also hoping that having a boyfriend would help her with her hygiene that we've been having trouble getting her to care about.  I.E. wiping food off her face after she eats, having food in her teeth hours after she ate something....she's been bad about that.  She *may* have gotten slightly better about that.  Slightly. 

The joys of homeownership!

So....our bathroom is moldy. Tiles falling off. The whole bit. Easter Sunday night we started pulling tile off. Wow! the wall sure was disintegrated behind there! There was a leak back there before that we had fixed that probably did that. This time i think it was just a leak coming from the tub spigot thing. the water backs up in there and then water seeps out on the tile side of it. So that was making the tiles fall off. Then the wall under the window was wet and moldy. so we're guessing (hoping) that it's just leaking aroung the window and getting back there. there is a leak in the roof that leaks into the kid's room. so we're hoping that it's not a roof leak that has dripped into the wall there making it wet. we're going to replace the window in there to a better quality one. then put in those big panels as the walls there for the tub surround. i hope we'll be able to go find a window this weekend and have it installed next week then finish up the surround (as long as it's in stock and doesn't have to be ordered) the weekend after that. Sigh....this is fun.

Stupid Boss!!

Wait sorry, that was redundant...

I came in late today, which is a whole other blog in itself.... I just start getting settled in. Talk to my friend/coworker here about what's going on at home. Then I go to my office to start working. After a bit my boss comes in and told me he just emailed me the insurance for a team that he's been talking to and he told them that they could use Graves park on Tues, Thurs and Fri.
I said: WHAT? I'm already giving it to a team that I've been talking to on Fridays. And we can't schedule anything on it on Tues & Thurs!
SB: Yes we can, there isn't any soccer there on T&Th. Well, you go ahead and give it to them on Fridays. But I was going to give it to this guy I was talking to. Remember, I talked to him first.
Me: What? When were you talking to him?
SB: Remember last week when I came in and asked you who is at Graves?
ME: Yeah but you didn't say why, you just said you needed to see who was there!
SB: No, i told you that I was going to put this team there.
ME: No...you didn't!
SB: Yes I did you just don't remember. I asked you who is at graves and i told you I needed to see when it was free so I could put this team there.
Me: UGGGG!!!!
SB: So go ahead and put them there T&Th, there's no soccer there.
Me: AARRGGG!!!!
Co-worker: Why were you scheduling a field anyway? Just let Alyssa do her job and this sort of thing won't happen!
SB: Well i've been talking to him forever so I just did it for him.
CW: But that is Alyssa's job! You should have told him to talk to her.
SB: Oh well, I did it for him. I've known him forever.

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I was so tempted at that very moment to call up my guy and tell him, you've got the park all three days you want! tues, thurs And friday! but that soooo would not have been a good idea. i'd get Serious hell from SB and he'd be seriously pissed and i don't even know what. But i totally wanted to throttle the living crap out of him!!

What a Loser!

That'd be me! I've been exercising (off and on...mostly off...) and eating better for the past 5 or 6 weeks. On Fridays, I've been weighing in. As of last Friday, March 7, I've lost 9lbs. I even measured myself the first week. So I decided to measure myself Friday morning, just to see...I've lost an INCH off of my waist! WOOHOO!!!

Hippy Hippy Shake!

Ok, so it's not as exciting as that, but this is the second weekend i've played tennis where my hip has started hurting halfway thru. This weekend I was expecting it though and I took a ton of ibuprofen before I started playing. So it wasn't as bad this time. So that was good. and it's not hurting today like it still was this time last week!!

SO PISSED OFF!!!

Today, it's an "every other" weekend when I would normally take the kid to meet her mom for the weekend. Well, today her mom was in town and called Joe and asked if she could pick her up early from school. So he told her where it was so she could go. So she went, she was nearby. He tried to call the school to tell them that he was authorizing her to pick up Amanda today. We didn't put her mother as an authorized picker-upper since she has NEVER come to amanda's school for Anything, much less to pick her up. He called 3 times and no one answered. So he called Stacie back and she said she was in the office and they were getting her from class! They didn't ID her or anything!!! So a bit later, Joe called the office and asked the secretary why she would release her to just anyone. The secretary said that she would NEVER do that and that she recognized her because she's picked her up before!! NO ONE has EVER picked up that child from that school early before! ONE time i took her in late cuz she had a doctor's appointment. But that's it!! Then the secretary started ARGUING with him saying that he doesn't know what he's talking about, he doesn't know who is picking up his kid and she's come before to pick her up! WELL....even IF that were the case that she's picked her up before, then that STILL means that the VERY FIRST time she picked her up, she wasn't checked!!!! AAARRRGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and then Joe asked to talk to the principal about it. He said that by the way she was talking to him, she didn't seem terribly concerned about the situation. She just said that, Well, she thought she recognized her. And that she'll make sure they ID better from now on. They should be ID'ing everyone in the first place!! From now on!! ARRGG!!! so then joe called stacie again about it and she said that when she picks her other 2 daughters up from day care 5 DAYS A WEEK, from the SAME PERSON, she is ID'D EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!

it's 20 til 5 but i think i'm gonna go home now. i've had it!

Why won't it go away??

For OVER three weeks now I have changed my eating habits quite a bit. I started keeping track of what I eat and the calories and fat and sugar and whatnot. Started eating more veggies during the day for snacks. More veggies with meals. Drinking more water too. Today was my third weigh in and I am the exact same weight as I started! The first 2 weeks I was 2 pounds less than my starting weight. Now I'm back to it. WTF??? It's crap like this that makes me think what the hell am I doing this for? I could go back to eating the way I was eating and maintaining....just like I am now apparently. Pisses me off.

Still sick

I don't know what the hell the deal is. I just can't seem to get over whatever I have. I was so tired yesterday, I went to sleep WAY early...just after 8! Slept all thru the night, up until 5ish this morning when I woke up and just ached all over! My legs, my back, my arms...just dying. And I was so uncomfortable I couldn't go back to sleep. I kinda dozed off here and there, but just couldn't fall totally asleep. I took some dayquil and mucinex this morning. So I don't feel as horrible as I did earlier...but still...not so great. It totally sucks man. This nose thing is bugging the crap out of me too. I have chorus tonight, so i'm probably going to go sit in the corner for it so i don't get my section sick. oooh or in front so i can hear the whole choir! I'll do that!

Apparently it is

I just called the dentist's office and asked them about the night guard situation. Apparently it's not supposed to stop the clenching, just the wear on the teeth from the clenching. And they can't separate the jaw any more because it being unnaturally separated can cause more jaw problems than ever before. So....my symptoms may be slightly diminished but they won't go away....sigh.... what a pain in my neck, literally!

Is it supposed to be like this?

I need to call my dentist. I got my night guard last wednesday. I've been wearing it every night (except for one when I passed out reading). I've still had a couple of headaches. When I first got it, I couldn't bite down on it cuz I gagged when i did. But after a couple of days I got used to it and I can bite down on it. And from what they told me, I'm not supposed to be able to. Or not with much force anyway. It was supposed to separate my teeth enough so that when I did clench down, i wouldn't be able to bite down with much force at all, which would alleviate the strain I'm feeling in my head and neck. So i have to call the dentist and ask about that issue. I have to get some more prescription toothpaste too, so I have to go anyway this week After I get paid.

Weekend

I had a pretty good weekend!

On Saturday, I stayed home while the hubby went to Moriarty to his friend's house to get some more tattoo work done. I've been going with him the previous 4 weeks and I decided to stay home this time so I could get some work done. And avoid the cat stench of their house. Holy crap, they have the raunchiest smelling house I have EVER had the misfortune to step in! When I go, I stay in the tattoo studio with them cuz he keeps the door closed so the animals don't go in there and the smell doesn't get in there either. I don't understand how people live like that!!! It's absolutely disgusting! So it was great staying home.

I did laundry and cleaned and vacuumed and dusted and mopped. Then I hear from hubby. He locked his keys in his truck. They were going to try to find someone to jimmie it open, but never did, so I had to take my key to him to unlock the truck. The kid was going to have a friend of hers over, so I waited til she came over and then we went. Got there, opened the truck, stayed for maybe 10 minutes then came back home. It's maybe 30 miles out there I think. Maybe more, I can never remember. So much for staying home and saving gas too!! Got back home and cleaned up some more and made dinner for the girls. I was on my feet all day long except for the drive. So by the time hubby came home and I was ready to go to bed, my back and feet hurt so bad. Went right to bed. don't you love how amazing your bed feels when you are so pooped and achey??

Sunday, just did one more load of laundry. I stayed in my PJs ALL DAY LONG!! It was GREAT!! bummed around the house....didn't even take a step outside! Joe even took amanda's friend home sunday evening. I did NOTHING! Waahahhahaa!!! I so needed that! It was awesome!

AND!

I can't see my freaking pet penguin I got!! I just get a white box!

Still Waiting...

Today is day 9 of the 7-10 business days that it was to take for my night guard to be made and sent. I haven't gotten too bad of headaches in the past week. I did wake up one morning with my neck and upper back killing me though. I'm guessing the back pain was caused by the same thing....it just spread below my neck this time. My neck usually hurts anyway though. Tomorrow is day 10! I don't really want to call and bug since it's still within the window of time they gave. But what if it's there and they just haven't gotten around to calling yet?? That has happened with other places. I've never waited for anything from this place, so I don't know...but it's happened where I'm waiting for something to come in and I'm not getting a call, so I call them and they say oh yeah, we have it, it's been in since yesterday, we just haven't been able to call you yet. Uh yeah. Sure. Sigh....I'm so ready to have it!!

Bastards!

It snowed all of about half an inch....if that...last night. Well, more in certain areas of the city. But where I live, we didn't even get that. So this morning I'm starting to get ready for work and my husband texts and says that the schools are on a 2 hour delay. So I told the kid. Then I turned on the tv to check on things. Of course the City isn't listed. So I called 311 to check. Nope, no delays. Pretty much Everything else was delayed today at Least! The university, schools, businesses, my freaking bank has a delayed day! So I turned off the tv and was thinking about getting ready for work. Then my husband texts again...the schools just announced they are cancelled for the day!!! WTF??? Idiots! Today is even supposed to be over 40! There is no reason for an entire school day to be cancelled for patchy, icy roads! It still pisses me off though that the City apparently doesn't care about hazardous road conditions and the welfare of their employees still trying to get to work at 730 and 8!!!

Out of the frying pan....

...and into the fire! And it was by choice! So I'm not complaining about that. Just about teenagers in general I suppose. I don't suppose it's any easier raising a teenager when you've been raising them since birth. But I sometimes think that having done that gives you an advantage as far as knowing your kid and being able to know what the heck to do with them I guess. But then again, there are plenty of parents who have been there the whole time and it's still like dealing with an entirely new person when their kid reaches the "terrible teens"! To quote Bill Cosby, children are brain damaged!! I don't know when they stop being brain damaged, but man, I hope it's soon! Seriously, this kid is bright...but holy crap, she is dumb as a rock sometimes and you think, is this the same kid?? What happened to my honor roll student??? Who is this brain damaged child?

Headaches....

Don't know if I've posted about this before, but I get some awful terrible, migraine-like headaches. I never knew what they were from. So last summer, I changed dentists and went to my first checkup at the new one. One of the first things the dental hygeinist asked me was if I wake up with neck pain and do I get a lot of headaches. I said 'yeeaahhh....why??' She said, 'Because you have a lot of wear on your teeth. You clench and grind your teeth at night.' Really?? So, she said that I can get a night guard from them that will keep my teeth apart so I can't clench my teeth and that my teeth will slide on when they do meet. It was Very expensive so I didn't do it. I got an inexpensive night guard from Walgreens and started wearing it. My headaches went away. For a while. Then they started coming back. So at my next appointment I told them about it. They said, 'Yeah, we used to recommend those ones until we discovered what they do.' The thing that goes in between your teeth that keeps them apart that you bite down on is somewhat soft. It's made out of silicone or something and it has some give. So at FIRST your jaw isn't used to it and it helps and the headaches go away for a while. THEN your jaw gets used to it and it's essentially exercising itself on the squishy bite pads and getting STRONGER! So then your headaches can be Worse than they were before! So great. So I stopped wearing it and I am breaking down and getting the expensive dentist one. I have an appointment at 230 tomorrow afternoon to get the molds done. I don't know how long it takes to come in, but I can't wait! I've been getting headaches every other day or every few days now. Its terrible!! So yay!! I can't wait to not have headaches!

Not Another Teen!

OMG! My stepdaughter is officially a TEEN today!! AAKKK!!! What more can I say?? Just O! M! G!

Maybe it's a tumor...

It's not a tumor. I've been getting these terrible migraine-like headaches that are sensitive to light and sound. Turns out they are tension headaches from clenching and grinding my teeth at night. Last summer my dental hygienist identified the wear on my teeth and ask if I wake up with neck pain and headaches. I was like yeeeaahhhh..... So she told me it's from grinding. She suggested I get a night guard from them that will prevent it. I opted not to at that point since they are SO expensive and for some dumb reason the dental insurance doesnt' cover them! So I got one from Walgreens that has a little thing that goes between your teeth. It worked, the headaches practically stopped. I'd still get little ones, but those were probably just normal run of the mill ones. Nothing like I'd had before. So all was well. Then they started coming again. Just one every now and then. Now I'm back to having a couple or few a week. So at my dentist appt in December I found out that what I'd been doing has made my jaw worse. The little thing between the teeth is slightly squishy. So at first it worked and the headaches went away. But as time went on, my jaw muscles strengthened because they were squeezing the little thing. And they came back. So I stopped wearing it and I'm now thinking I'm just going to break down, bring my credit card out of retirement, and get the damn thing so I don't have to deal with this crap anymore!

And Back Again....

It's been quite some time....again! Being a wife and mom is pretty time consuming! Who knew? HAHA!

Things have been going great. We've gotten some work done on the house and yard that are improvements. The only major problem right now is the roof. It's leaking...sigh...and we need the money to fix it. That's always an issue...money money money. Sheesh. What a pain.