Holiday Wrap Up

Things have been crazy here. With all the hospital visits, holiday celebrations, a sick Shecky, and numerous other things keeping me away from my beloved Intarnets I've been very.... well... CRANKY the last day or so. (Aunt Flo's visit is also a factor... I'm SURE!)

Christmas was wonderful. Husband, J and my lil bro were all here with us. We had a great lunch and many gifts were opened. Husband and J spoiled the crap outta me. I got a 30" HD 1080i color TV and an XBox 360 from the two of them. Now... if only our craptastic Internet connection would allow me to log into Live... then my fun would be complete. (Oh I WILL beat yer ass at Uno J! Just you WAIT!!!! Bwah!)

Husband got Guitar Hero 3... which he finished in 2 days. Meh. Bastage! heh.

J got ... well... sleep pants for now. He'll soon be getting a complete set of Manga that he'll hopefully love and will HOPEFULLY last longer than Guitar Hero 3 did for Husband. (The Bastage!)

Shecky... Shecky got so much stuffs its UNREAL. He got a Pachinko machine, The Black Pearl play set, Transformers, and lots o other loot! heh

Unfortunately, Husband and J had to leave Christmas Afternoon but it was a lovely day regardless. :)

I have, foolishly more likely than not, signed up for Blog365. Starting January 1, 2008 I will be posting EVERY DAY. GodHelpMeAndAllHisOtherBloggingCreatures! We'll see how far I get! Heh. Join me... won't you?

Too Blessed To Be Stressed...

Ummm Not so much. 4:30am we were awakened by a call from my Nanny Deb. My grandmother lives with her. Grandma was having problems. Her blood pressure was 197/102 and her Oxygen level was only 85%. That's really high and really low for those that don't know. Nanny Deb wanted to take her to the ER. Grandma said she just wanted to be left alone to die. In the end, my cousin Jody convinced her to go to the ER by explaining that she wasn't DYING, per se, but that she'd likely have a stroke with her Blood Pressure being so high and wouldn't THAT just make the quality of her life SO much better? (GO JODY!!!)

She's been in the ER at the hospital since shortly after 7:00AM. We were told she'd been moved to the ICU... only... she's STILL in the fricking ER waiting on a bed to free up in ICU.

They've given her some nitre glycerin and her blood pressure is better. They're still admitting her though.

The kicker, my friends, is that today is the one year anniversary of my grandfather, her husband, passing away. Mom had planned to go to the cemetery and visit Grandpa. She didn't get to go. She felt like she needed to stay close to home in case they needed her for something.

As horrible as this is going to make me sound, I wonder how much of Grandma's health crisis today is due to it being the anniversary of his death. How much of it was her wanting to die because its the day he died and how much of it was her wanting the focus of today to be on her. (You would have to really know my grandmother to understand why I would even THINK this.) I feel like a really shitty person for wondering those things, but, I do wonder them.

Mom feels like she was robbed of the opportunity to reflect on her father's life and passing today. She feels like, this day, of all days, should have been about him. Yet, she's forced to put her focus elsewhere. I agree with her, but again, I have to wonder if it was horrible that it turned out the way it did. The focus of today became the living, not the dead. I'm not so sure that's such a horrible way to mark the passing of a man we all loved and miss.

Maybe, I'm just thinking too much....

Updates and Apologies

Apologies:

So, SO sorry I've been so absent post wise lately. Life has been completely crazy lately.

Updates:

My grandmother is home and doing... ok. She's having a rough time and we're thinking some of her meds aren't properly managing some of the health issues but we're waiting and giving it a lil more time.

My Father In Law is now in the hospital. He had knee surgery replacement on both knees recently and he's thrown some clots into his lungs. He's recovering and will be on a cumin regimen for the next 6 or so months to make sure the problem doesn't recur.

Husband's Grandmother was taken to the ER today. She fell and scraped the hell out of her arm. The probably wouldn't have bothered with the ER except she started having dizzy spells and threw up something... well.. black. The Dr's didn't admit her but sent her home with medications for dizziness and nausea and instructions to see her regular physician.... WTF???

I spent today wrapping gifts. I'm DONE. Whew! I have ONE MORE gift to purchase. Bleh.

I have lost 7.2 lbs in the last 2 weeks. I have lost a total of 62 lbs since mid July. I am 1.3 lbs from being below 400 lbs. Holy Hells!

Query:

Teachers and gift certificates for a restaurant ... your thoughts?

Cute Shecky Story:

My child now plays basketball. At the first practice, I observed him picking on a child on his team that has Down's Syndrome. Its not anything he wouldn't have done to pick on any other child but I lost it. I called him offa the court in the MIDDLE of practice. He walked off the court. The coach said, "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" My child, bless his bones, replied, "MY MOMMAH HOLLERED FOR ME TO COME TO HER!" EVERYONE heard. EVERYONE laughed. I... wanted... to... die. lol. At least he's trained well.

Today's Difference

Today... I made a difference by purchasing stuff for my son's 2nd grade classmates. I'm making goody bags for all... Candy, Christmas Pencils, Christmas Erasers, Christmas Straws and Christmas Ornaments for all! His classroom only has 15 kids. I made 30 bags. Enough for all the 2nd graders in the school. I also made goody bags for the kids that live in our neighborhood. I wrote out Christmas Cards for everyone that lives in our lil community. Doing my best to spread the Christmas Spirit to everyone I know! :)

It may not seem like much... but it shows those around you that you care. :)

The One In Which I Admit I Fail At Life

Today I listened to my father rant at me about how dirty the house was. The floors were dirty and needed mopped. Everything was dusty. I left my shoes in a corner of the living room rather than on the back porch. Everything was wrong.

I've been doing what I can in Mom's absence. Cooking, picking up the house, dishes, keeping up with the laundry. It doesn't sound like much but you have to remember. I'm a 408 lb lady. That's a LOT for me. I can't mop yet. I can't move furniture and vacuum behind it yet. I can't do a LOT of things yet. I feel like I suck enough without him reinforcing my sucktitude ThankYouVeryMuch.

Due to his tirade lasting all morning I didn't eat until 11:30 today. My blood sugars crashed like mad. I was mid crash when I was trying to fix lunch for Shecky, Dad and I. I forgot Mom is storing things in the oven. I melted some plastic containers and bags containing candied fruit for our fruit cakes... that we had to order online... cause none of the stores in this God forsaken BFE SELL the damned red and green candied pineapple. There was red candied pineapple and ... well.. GOO all over the inside of the oven. I cleaned it up but not until after I ate... which... yanno... pissed him off all over again. To be fair I didn't tell him I was having a sugar crash but THAT was only because I didn't want him freaking out about that too. Meh.

I've been waiting for him to blow up all week. My nerves have been driving me nuts all week. I KNEW I couldn't keep the house clean enough to keep him in check but I tried. Unfortunately, I snacked a lot this week as a result of the Nervous Nellie's that I had. I caught myself doing it off and on all week. I tried to compensate for it the best I could by eating fewer points than normal on those days... but... I still didn't loose anything this week.

So... yeah... I fail at life this week. Good thing a new one is starting, eh?

A Few Things and 25 Days To Make A Difference

I'd like to apologize to everyone for my posting being so sporadic and uninteresting lately. Things have been kind of... weird. We're coming up on the 1 year anniversary of my grandfather's death and everyone is kind of struggling here. Add to that the fact that my grandmother was admitted to the hospital last Saturday... almost EXACTLY a year after my grandfather was admitted and you begin to see a bit of the chaos that's been my life lately.

Mom is in Clear Lake with Grandma. I am trying... and failing pretty miserably... to hold down the fort here. I've managed to keep up with the laundry, the dishes and keep the house generally picked up but ummm... its kinda taking everything I have to do it. It's certainly not clean to the standards my father expects.

My nerves... they are shot. My eating has been.... eh. I'm TRYING but I keep taking little nibbles of this and that without thinking. Once I realize what I've done I get pissed and strengthen my resolve.. then make the same mistake again later. Meh meh meh.

I've been making a difference the last few days to my family. Doing all the above has made it possible for my mother to be with HER mother while she's ill. I haven't really had the energy or creative capacity to do much more than that. Sorry Laura... I'm still with ya. One of my friends is participating but not blogging btw! (L... you need to POST woman!) She's doing all she can to make things better for others as well!

Project Hope: Making a Difference Dec. 5

The difference I made today...

In the last 24 hours I have donated 10,000 grains of rice through Free Rice! I have a decent vocabulary but I can't get past level 42!!! Dang it!

Brad Womack interviewed by Ellen Degenaris 2007

Heeeeeeeeyyyyy... someone gave him a chance to tell HIS side of things. Geesh! I still don't get the backlash over his "I Choose Me" moment!!!!

Project Hope: Making a Difference Dec. 4

Today I'm making a difference and a pledge. I've been alerted to a site in which clicking on a button donates a free mammogram to someone that can't afford it. The entire site is great. It has tabs for hunger, breast cancer, children's health, literacy, rain forests and animal rescue. Please check it out. You'll notice a new button to the right. Clicking on it will take you directly to the page to click for free mammograms. Its two... little... clicks. I'll be clicking every day from now on. Please do the same. :)

Why Mommy is blogging her struggle with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Please go check out what she has to say and give her a lil support. :) She's awesome and in a fight for her life.

Project Hope: And A Child Shall Lead Them...

Please check out this blog. What this young girl is trying to do is just inspiring! I'm going to try to follow her example and do something for the next 22 days!

December 3rd- I procured some toys for a family of children my son is friends with. Dad isn't working. They've just been evicted from their home. Its not going to be a very good Christmas for them. I've gotten them each 2 things for under their tree and we will get the items to them anonymously.

25 Days To Make A Difference

Mother Nature Is TRYING to Keel Me!

Holy Cotton Undies Batman! After the busiest 2 weeks EVER... (and I'm STILL not done baking for the soldiers... Candy tomorrow) Aunt Flo has decided to visit. I'm pissy. I'm hurting. I want to be held... but I dun want anyone around me... My head hurts, my feet stink and I dun luv Jebus anymore.

Such is the state of my mood.

However, I DID loose .7 lbs last week with Thanksgiving AND PMS... Take THAT! Heheh

Holiday Musings... and A Challenge

The Holiday's are HARD. I LOVE them. Don't get me wrong. I love the baking and the cooking and the shopping and the wrapping and the family gatherings. I love the sense of wonder you find in children at this time of year and the warm fuzzies you find in adults.

However, (you KNEW there had to be a however, Right?) for some reasons the Holidays also bring to the surface everyone's... ISSUES. Everything is intensified. Issues with your family, with yourself, with your pocket book and with society in general all seem so much WORSE during the Holidays. People die every... single... DAY. Yet, when it happens during the Holiday Season it seems so much more tragic. The impact of that death seems harder... lasts longer... is remembered more vividly.

I try to keep a positive mindset during the Holidays. I'm thankful for all that I have. I appreciate everything I can do. I also like to stop and reflect on how fortunate I and my family really are. But... (You KNEW there was a but, RIGHT? ) I can't help but think about those that aren't as lucky. Who can't give their kids a happy holiday be it for financial reasons or other things that may not be within their control.

Because my mind works the way it does, my husband and I have a tradition of doing... SOMETHING for someone else during this time of year. Its generally not someone we know. Often, we don't know their names or their full circumstances. Those things don't really matter to us. We just want to make things a little better for someone else because were things different... we could EASILY be in the same boat.

Last year we adopted 2 kids and made sure they had a Christmas. The year before we took two names off a tree at Walmart and bought something for those kids. This year I'm baking my arse off and sending the results to a random person in the army hoping that it eases their heart while away from those they love during the Holidays and hoping it lets them know their sacrifices aren't unappreciated or un-noticed.

My challenge for you is this:

One Random Act of Kindness. It can be for someone you know well or not at all. It doesn't matter. You can donate money, toys, food or time. Help and elderly person put up their decorations... Bake a pie or cake for a neighbor who's having a hard time.... Pay for the coffee of the person standing on the corner selling newspapers on the corner this chilly Sunday.... WHAT EVER. It doesn't have to be a huge gesture. Something small works as well. Make a small difference to someone... and then... encourage someone else to do the same.

I'm involving my mother in my efforts this year. She's helping me plan and bake. Shecky... his entire 2nd grade class is making Christmas Cards for soldiers to be sent with my package. His teacher is having them do it.

This isn't a new idea. The movie "Pay It Forward" put it forth in a massive way. There's a National Day of Kindness. However, (you HAD to know... cough... ) during the holidays seems to be a time it can be of most use to those who may need it the most. Join me, won't you?

Silence...

is golden they say... Yeah.... Not so much when you are a blogger. Sorry for being so quiet lately. We've been going crazy trying to get ready for Thanksgiving.

I have a couple of updates on my weight loss/health issues. I gained .3 lbs this week. POINT THREE. Damn it. It couldn't have just stayed the SAME yanno? lol

I was much more immobile last week. Spent a lot of time at the dinning room table baking. Bleh.

I DID manage a milestone today though. I BEAT THE WALMART MONSTER. We went into town today and I managed to do the shopping, for an hour, walking. NO SCOOTER! WOOT! I'm tired and sore but it was so worth it!

NoBloPoMo

Crap! I went to Houston for the weekend to see my husband and my dog and didn't post for 2 days! So much for NaBloPoMo!

I had a great weekend. Played Eternal Sonata on the XBoX360 all frickin weekend. ADDICTED to that game! Thanks J... Now I need a fix!

This week is gonna be HELLA busy. I'm sure it is for everyone else as well. Had some thoughts tonight on Dad and his drinking. Not sure if I'm going to share them or not though... I probably will. Gonna go get some rest! Nytol.

Community Chest

I LOVE the community we live in. Tonight we had a community dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving. It. Was. AWESOME.

One of the elder members of our group played the Sitar and sang a song giving thanks for all our blessings... that she had written herself. It was off tune. Her voice cracked often. Yet, it was moving and lovely that she wanted to share it with all of us.

Another older gentleman gave a blessing that was heartfelt and pithy.

We had Turkey and Ham. We had stuffing, dressing and sweet potato casserole. There was macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole and broccoli cheese rice. Oh there was so much more. The food was great.

The company was even better. I watched as everyone went from table to table conversing about the holidays, their kids or whatever came to mind. I found myself being called from table to table, group to group, only to hear the same question.

"How much weight HAVE you lost? You're looking SO much better."

First, it shocked me that so many were asking. Then I started thinking about it. Many of these folks have known me since I was a senior in high school. That's 22 YEARS. They've seen me gain weight, get married, gain more weight, have a kid, gain MORE weight, get separated from my husband, gain MORE weight, get back with my husband and... yes.. you guessed it... GAIN MORE WEIGHT. Bleh. OF COURSE they're noticing me loose it.

I have to say, it felt pretty damn good to say, "I've lost 53 lbs since July." I couldn't stop grinning. I have a LOT to be thankful for this year. The most important is the silent support and cheering section I have. I know they're out there rooting for me to loose all the weight I want and it feels great.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I LOVE Criminal Minds. My favorite character is Penelope Garcia. She's a spunky, chunky, full of mischief girl geek and I heart her! Were I playing for that team... she'd be mah girl!

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT

WTF CRIMINAL MINDS? What do you think you're doing shooting down the BEST female role model on TV? Eh? And... WHY while on a date with a smokin' hot dude? WHYYYYYYYYY???

::composes self::

I apologize for that outburst. Ahem. We now return you to your regularly scheduled madness!!!

Chop Chop Zzzzzz Zzzzz

I spent the majority of my day today chopping up candied pineapple and cherries and pecans. I freakin' LOVE getting ready for the holidays!!!!!! (No, REALLY! I DO!) Hopefully tomorrow we will make a batch of our special Christmas Cake. I'll be shipping off one of the cakes to friends in Kansas City, MO. Not sure what we're doing with the others. It should be a fun day though.

Thursday I'll hopefully be making Peanut Butter Balls. HOPEFULLY. Not sure I have the energy for that! lol

Nytol...

What Fresh Hell....

is this??? After a weekend with a sick 7 year old and today with a feeling much better 7 year old desperately trying to burn off some energy even though I want him to be still cause being off from school sick isn't SUPPOSED to be fun is more than I can handle. I'm done for the day. Nytol...

Project Hope: A Way To Make A Difference

I had this great plan for Project Hope. I was going to post once a week about someone or something that inspired me to make a difference in our world... even if it was in a small way. I fail. I've been so involved in trying to work The Plan I have for weight loss and health that I haven't done it.

However, Liv over at Madness, Madness I Say has an INCREDIBLE idea/campaign going to bring our boys overseas some Holiday Cheer. Please to check it out and get involved. No matter your views on the war and whether or not we should be there those boys deserve a great holiday season.

Tomorrow: An update on the weight loss drama that is my life.

Eating to Survive...

I have something really... odd... going on. My blood sugars are LOW. Yesterday I crashed twice. Today I crashed again. Its been like this for a week... and its getting ... old.

Last night I had to eat a waffle and syrup before bed just so I could take my insulin. I mean.. COME ON! That's not terribly conducive to loosing weight.

We had BBQ hamburgers tonight. One patty, two slices of bread and a slice of 2% cheese is 6 points. I just had to eat a 2nd one so I could take my insulin... I've NEVER had to work this hard to keep my sugars up... its neat and a pain in the ass all at the same time. I'll be interested to see what my weight is tomorrow and I'll be calling the Dr. Monday to see what gives!

Short and Sweet

I've been sick all day. Fighting Nausea. Feeling like HELL. Doing a bit better now but you'll get nothing of substance from me today! No, I'm NOT pregnant. Don't even think it! I've been attacked by some sort of stomach bug.

Had a huge assed sugar crash today. Blood Sugar was at 52. Ate a brownie. Counted the points. Still have 7 left for the day. Still scared to eat. Meh.

Happy Frickin' Friday.

Bonfires and Kindergarten Court

This week is Homecoming at Shecky's school. Tonight they had the coronation of the PreK-8th grade Duchesses and a bonfire. It was ADORABLE! The little girls in their fancy dresses. The lovely corsages and Homecoming mums. The escorts whether it was the proud papa or an adorable kid from their class. The 2 inch high heels... WHU???

Mom and I were looking at the girls. Many of the younger ones, we're talking 1st and 2nd graders, had high heels on. I mean... HIGH. Mom and I were talking about it and we realized... that was all their MOTHER'S doing. I don't quite get that. I mean... yes. Its an honor for their darling lil girl to be chosen as the Duchess. Dressing her up in the finest gown they can find is great! However, LET THEM BE LIL GIRLS. Holy Hell!

Kids grow up so much faster these days. It doesn't help when their parents are encouraging it. Is it just me? Am I wrong and looking at it in a skewed way or are these parents actually encouraging their 6 and 7 year old daughters to grow up too quickly? Meh... mebbe I'm just bitter because I wasn't allowed to have high heels until I was 13... heh.

Holiday Train Rooooooooollin' In

My Grandfather passed away December 18, 2006. We put him to rest on December 21, 2006.

We are rapidly approaching the holidays and the 1 year anniversary of his passing and none of us seem to be handling it well. Mom is already having the random crying jags. Grandma seems to be getting more depressed. My Nanny is too. I'm sure its affecting the others as well.

One of my cousins, who was hardest hit by Grandpa's passing, is going through a similar problem this year. His Father In Law is dying of cancer. He's being care for by Hospice Care, unable to eat and just slowly drifting away. His wife is a wreck. He works out of state. They have 3 kids ranging in age from 17 to 6. I pray for them daily.

The thing is... THEY HAVE KIDS. So do I. Just like last year its necessary and important to make the holidays as normal and fun and familycentric (It is TOO a word! I said so!) as possible. Last year we went through the motions and I think we did a good job of keeping the holidays in tact for the kids. Reindeer Feed was made and scattered. Santa was extra generous. We had the huge traditional meal together. There was laughter in spite of what had just happened... even if there were still tears in our eyes and our hearts.

This year just seems harder.

I'm pushing the Holiday train on everyone just like last year and I feel like crap about it. I miss my grandfather, too. Shecky does as well. I'll be damned, though, if I'm going to let a natural part of life make the holidays hollow for my family for the rest of our lives. The kids deserve better. The adults deserve better. Hell, my GRANDFATHER deserves better. (He loved the holidays and everyone being together and all the chaos and laughter that came with the house being full with his family.)

Am I wrong to try to preserve this time of year for me and mine? (And by me and mine I mean EVERYONE from my kid to my cousins kids) Should I just let it go and make it as nice for Shecky as I can and forget about everyone else? Do I continue to try to make sure we're all together and celebrating the best we can because God only knows how many more chances we'll get to do so? What would you do?

The Time Change Is Kicking My....

Ass... yeah... I said it! Today has seemed like the longest fricking day EVAH! All day long I've been thinking, "Its only 10am?" "Its only noon?" and now its like... "WTF!!! Its 10pm!!!! Aw, Hells Naw!"

I hate it when the time changes. It throws EVERYTHING off... meh.

Bra-Va! Bra-Va!!!

WHOOO HOOO. Two non-scale victories and one food discovery for y'all today.

First- I CAN WEAR MY BRA! Yeah I know. Random and bizarre but I was SO freakin' excited. When I first started THE PLAN my bra was so tight that it rolled up on me, caused a huge red mark all the way around my body and gave me a large amount of pain. It was decided that since I was living in the woods I should hide the sucker and go without for a while. 50 pounds later... I put it on this morning and IT FIT! LIKE IT SHOULD! It din' even do THAT when I bought the sucker! Whooo Hooo!!! *sorry for the overshare but I am just so thrilled its unreal lol*

Next-- I am a Type II Diabetic that takes several oral meds and a shot of Lantus daily. With all the weight I've lost... I've been crashing like a blind teenager with a drivers license. (Shiver in Fear!!!!) I called my Dr. today and she decreased one of my meds. My insulin and one of my oral meds were decreased a month ago and now another one is being cut in half! ::bounces in chair:: ITS WORKING!!!

Finally, for anyone that loves the Salty-Sweet like I do... Chex Snack Mix in the Turtle Flavor is just.... DIVINE. Its 3 points for 2/3 of a cup and so totally worth it when you have the munchies.

And We Were Dancin'.. Dancin' In The Streets!

WOOT! Weigh In Day is today. I'm down another 3.9 lbs. I've lost a total of 52.1 lbs so far. I BROKE THE 50 lb. mark!!!!! Another 12 lbs and I'll be below 4oo and well on my way to driving a car again. (I was driving my Taurus at 380ish).

Holy Pete Moses!!!! I'm stoked folks. I am doing a few things differently. I'm not exercising. I'm being more active around the house. It would seem I wasn't eating enough points to counterbalance the activity I was doing in my exercise. That actually makes my head hurt.

Hi. My name is Tessa and I weight 411.9 lbs. ... and I'm excited about that! ::Dances through the Blogaverse::

Mmmmmm Fall

Today has been a really nice day thus far. I was up till 3am.. ish. Which sucked. Husband was driving to Fort Worth for his monthly USAF Reserve duty. The traffic, due to the start of hunting season which... yanno... I TOTALLY DON'T GET!, was HORRENDOUS. It was bumper to bumper going out of town. Husband decided to go home and sleep for a couple of hours and head out around 9pm. Great idea except since he was driving so late I din sleep. I never do when someone I care about is traveling. I called him every thirty minutes to an hour to make sure he was still awake and not yanno... laying on the road somewhere after smashing into an 18 wheeler ... cough... (And I wonder where Shecky's imagination comes from heh).

I slept till almost 10am. Holy crap. That's unusual. I feel really great today because I actually got some sleep! I got up and Shecky and I made Caramel apples together. That was actually REALLY fun. The kiddo was drooling over them... hehehe... I made him wait till after lunch to have one. Evil Mama that I am.

Now I'm just kinda... chillin. Surfing the web, gonna read a bit, having just a lazy kinda day.

Weight loss wise its going pretty well. I was kinda bad at 2am. I had a donut. I wanted the sugar to help keep me awake. I counted the 5 points as my breakfast. Heh. Whut? It was after midnight and EVERYONE knows your points start over at midnight!!!!

For lunch I had 6 oz turkey sausage in a tomato sauce and onion gravy with 1 cup of rice. I've had a total of 16 points. Tonight for dinner it'll be Meatball Stew (ZOMG do I LOVE that crap! My Mom is the bestest cook EVAH!) with Cous Cous and some sort of veggies. I need to eat some yogurt and fruit today as well. I'm not feeling terribly organized food-wise today. Heh. Its kinda nice really.

Hope you're all having a great Saturday as well!

I'm NOT Quite Sure How To Take This....

I had an interesting conversation with my father this evening. Let me preface this with a little pertinent information.

• Dad very rarely talks about things philosophically or psychologically.
• He's usually drunk when he does.
• He was drunk tonight.

Now, he started the conversation by telling me what a great job I'm doing with my son. That's he's bright and I encourage that trait and am doing all the right things with that aspect. He said that Shecky has a great personality and I'm helping him cultivate that in a terrific manner. He said my child is a mamma's boy and needs to man up...

Whu? He's 7 frickin' years OLD Dude.... WTF?

THEN he informs me that I need to stop using the "Do what I tell you cause I'm the parent that's why" philosophy of parenting.

Ummmm HUH? That's how he raised US! WTF??

Next... I hear him telling me that he made mistakes with my brother and I that I can do better than he did... and it hit me...

He was trying to tell me not to make the same mistakes with MY child that he made with us... and I was floored... and humbled... and shocked.. and more than a little taken aback... Cause.. My Dad... NEVER, EVER admits he is wrong... EVER. He once accused the DICTIONARY of being wrong cause it didn't agree with his spelling of a word... and then, I had a long think about what he was telling me.

I WAS getting into the habit of yelling at Sheck and doing the "ONE! TWO! YOU BETTER DO IT BEFORE I GET TO 3 OR I'LL GROUND YOU TILL YOU ARE 97! 2 AND A HALF!..." I used to take the time to explain why he couldn't do what he wanted or why it was a bad idea to feed the dog hot dogs... from his own mouth... and now... I don't. I've been so involved in my struggle to loose weight and get healthier that I've kind of let the way I wanted to raise my kid fall by the wayside.

Yeah... I help him study. Yeah... we have a night designated to just hang out together. However, the lessons I teach him by how I deal with him are just flat not the ones I wanted to teach him. I never WANTED to be THAT kind of parent... and now... it would seem... I am... or... was. Tonight, I started talking to him again instead of yelling at him. Hopefully, I can retrain the both of us and do a little better by him.

Thanks Dad.

NaBloPoMo and Other Stuffs

National Blog Posting Month... or whatever. I din sign up on the sign up page but I'm going to attempt to post daily anyway. :)

Today is just a stream of consciousness day...

I REALLY wish that damn dog would stop barking.... sigh

Thursday nights are "Mom and Boy Night". We curl up on the bed and watch Survivor and CSI: Original Flavor (STOOPID DOG NEEDS TO SHADDUP). Shecky really looks forward to it and so do I. (My father is now aggravating the dog by knocking on everything... ZOMG MUST HURT HIM) Thursday night seems to be the night he sleeps the best, as well. I dunno if its the extended bedtime making him more tired or that he's just more relaxed and "loose" after 2 hours of TV and snuggle time with teh Mommah! (My mother is doing the "books" and keeps repeating "9 is September" and "10 is October" ... OUT LOUD... Lol... even Shecky knows THAT without repetition Ma!)

Do YOU have time scheduled for your kids? Do they have special night of the week with you where they just get to chill? Do they look forward to it or do you have to seem to force them to do the "Family Thing"? (WTF... Dad lost his shirt... literally... how much talent does THAT take?)

You Know You Make Me Wanna SHOUT!!!!

I took a shower this morning... and washed my hair... BY MYSELF. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to any of you and you should thank the deity of your choice for that, but for ME... Holy! Hell! It was YOOGE! Imagine being 38 and your mother having to help you wash your hair every time it needed washed.... yeah. It Sucks big, hairy, bawls!!! Its embarrassing as hell and its just... demoralizing. Really. TRUST ME.

My parents have a very small shower. I couldn't FIT in the damn thing when I first got here. The Shower Door was too small, I was too big.. take your pick. I haven't been able to use that shower for 2 years... and now I can! ::Does Dance of Joy::

I just had to share!

10% Off!!!!

That's right my friends. I have finally lost 10% of myself! Today's weigh in shows a loss of 3.4 lbs for a total of 48.2 lbs. I hit my 10% goal at 46.3 lbs!!!!! I will have hit a 50 lbs loss in another 1.8 lbs. 14 lbs after that... My friends... I will be BELOW 400 lbs. I'm so STOKED!!!!! ::bounces in chair::

How was YOUR weekend?

Halloween Carnival Fun

I have baked more cakes today than I ever wanted to in a short span of time...

4... count them... 4 Halloween cakes, baked, iced, and decorated today. Mom and I are running the Cake Walk tomorrow night at the Carnival. It should be great fun watching all the kiddies in their costumes running around trying to win MORE sugar lol. If I can figure out how to post more than one picture per post on here I'll put some up Sunday. Here's to hoping you all have a fun filled weekend.

WTF CSI: NY??

Tell me you din' REALLY just end the episode like that. It didn't so much end... as it just.. STOPPED! Grrrrrrr

For Your Consideration

Recommendation Day!!!

Bo Bice's new CD See The Light -- Its really, really good. Its what his FIRST CD after American Idol SHOULD have been. I'm really enjoying it. I've listened to it 3 or 4 times today. I bought it at 10am. You can only get it on CD at Walmart or purchase it as a download online from several other sources. Its worth it! Go! Listen!

1408 -- Starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. Scary frickin' movie. It's suspenseful and a complete mind fuck at the end. Check it OUT! Its the perfect time of year to rent it or buy it on DVD!

Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities -- by Richard Baer This book is an accounting by the doctor that treated this woman for 15 or more years. Its sounds phenomenal. I haven't read it yet but when I read the Newsweek article on it I was very, very intrigued and ordered it! I can't WAIT to sink my brain into it!

A Sigh Of Relief

My folks are out of town visiting my grandmother and aunt. Husband is here, Shecky is thrilled and I'm getting a chance to just... be. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

I lost 3 lbs this week!!!

I'm going to experiment and not exercise this week. It seems the more I exercise the less I loose. I just wanna see what happens.

I've been reading a lil bit more lately. It helps me relax.

I seem to be having trouble relaxing lately... not sure if its from living with my folks and always feeling like I'm under scrutiny or...

Its raining here. its chilly here. Perfect weather for napping, relaxing and reading... YEAH!

"Catch As Catch Can" or "Sleep Deprivation Makes Me Cry"

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday folks. Shecky, my darling, adorable, loving, light of my life, woke my butt up at 4:30 AM yesterday... by making his bed. WTF?

He was WIDE awake and ready to rock! I was ready for more sleep. I tried to get him to lay back down but... yeah... that wasn't happening. We got up, got him ready for school, goofed off a bit and I tried desperately to cat nap between sentences. Yeah... THAT wasn't happening either! I would have gladly knocked his lil butt out! (When my Nanny heard about his antics she suggested a nightly dose of Tylenol to do just that lol... She was only kidding.. RIGHT?)

The rest of the day was, basically, a sleep deprived blur. We went to town and spent the morning shopping at The Big Evil Wally-World. I got one of Shecky's Christmas presents. Its a YOOGE Black Pearl Toy Ship. He's STILL obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean and he was drooling over it at his last trip through the toy aisle. Its not hiding in the trailer.

I also spent a crap ton of money on Halloween Themed Candy to make goody bags out of. A week from Saturday we're having a HUGE Halloween Celebration for the kids. We're doing a "Haunted Woods" ride. The adults are going to create a haunted trail that the kids will be taken through on a hay ride. We're going to have Trick-or-Treating (hence the goody bags) and we're going to have a Halloween Carnival. The carnival should be a blast for the kids. We'll have everything from bobbing for apples to a cake walk to face painting to any number of other things. I'll be spending next Friday baking and decorating 4 cakes for the cake walk. Mom and I will be running it so I figured, yanno, I MIGHT should make some cakes for it. Mom and I will both be in costumes and if I can figure out how to get more than one picture on my blog at a time I'll put some of em up here. :)

But, I digress. After shopping we came back here, unloaded and unpacked all the stuff we'd bought and then kinda just... well... we were much like slugs that have scuttled through a pile of salt. Heh. We just kinda sat around and did not much till it was time to go get Shecky from School.

I helped him study and do homework. We had dinner. Shecky and I snuggled up in my bed and watched Survivor (STOOPID STOOPID PG AND WHATS HER FACE THROWING TEH CHALLENGE!!!) and CSI:The Original (GRISSOM AND SARAH... ENGAGED!!! FISH WITH BOTH MALE AND FEMALE SEX ORGANS!!! CORY'S DAD FROM BOY MEETS WORLD!!!). Shecky went to bed, I read a while then passed. the. hell. OUT!

It wasn't a terribly BUSY day but the lack of sleep had me kinda... disoriented. (Yeah I know... not really all THAT different than usual but it DID make it worse.)

Who IS This Kid?

Shecky confuses me sometimes. This morning he popped out of bed, got dressed, made his bed, brushed his teeth... all without my having to say a WORD to him. Usually, I have to threaten him with bodily harm to get him out of bed much LESS moving! WTF?

THEN... he decides to take it upon himself to make his own lunch... ON PIZZA DAY at school. (Pizza is the only food group according to him.) When I asked him why he said, "I'll have Pizza on the 31st. Pizza isn't good for you anyway, Mom." WTF?

THEN, he is SO determined to take the test over the library book he checked out that he reads the book to me and answers all the questions without pausing. He paid full attention to what I was asking and didn't get distracted ... or... anything. WTF? WTF?

I have no clue who this child is but I kinda like him... and I'm kinda... Scared of him! heh.

(My Dad SWEARS all this HAS to be due to some lil girl he's crushin' on... Who loves to read... and prolly makes her own lunches... groan... Gawd Help Me! He's ONLY 7!!!!!)

I Suck....

Unintentionally hurting someone you love sucks... especially when you can't really fix what was done.

I'm sorry.

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

Ok... this is my day with Shecky in a nut shell. SO ON POINT!!! LOL... cute, creative and TRUE you can't beat that!

Daily Menu for Thursday 10-11-2007

Breakfast:

• 1 C Oatmeal 2 points
• 1 C Skim Milk 2 points
• 1 C Diced Sliced Peaches 2 points (6 Total Points)

Lunch:

• 3 oz Braunshwager 6 points
• 12 Saltine Crackers 2 points
• 2 C Green Seedless Grapes 2 points (10 Total Points)

Dinner:

• 6 oz Mom's Meatloaf 6 points
• 1 C Cous Cous 4 points
• 1/2 C Corn 1 point
• 1/2 C Green Beans 0 points (11 total Points)

Snack:

• 8 Sugar Free Shortbread Cookies 4 points
• 1 C Skim Milk 2 points (6 Total Points)

-----------------------------------------------------

Total Points for the Day 33

Three Cheers for Shecky!!!

Today... was report card day! Shecky brought home 6 A's and 6 B's!!!! I am SO proud of him! (Could I use more exclamation points? Why, YES! YES! I! COULD! heheh)

He finally made the leap between studying and good grades. He GETS it now! WHOO HOO!!!! He got 3 things out of the prize bag and the promise of the Transformers Movie next week when it hits stores. Grandpa promised him $10.00 for every B and $20.00 for every A... Ummm that would have been $180.00. Needless to say Shecky forgot the amounts promised and Grandpa got away with giving him a cool $20.00. lol.

WTG Kiddo! I'm so freakin' proud of you I could bust!

Daily Menu for Weds 10-10-2007

Breakfast:

• 1 C Oatmeal 2 points
• 1 C Skim Milk 2 points
• 1 C Diced Canned Pears 2 points (6 Total Points)

Lunch:

• 1 Novrosky's Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich 13 points (13 Total Points)

Dinner:

• 1 Taco Bell Take Home Santa Fe Beef Bowl 7 points (This was actually VERY Tasty!)
• 1 Slice 2 % Pepper Jack Cheese 1 points (8 Total Points)

Snacks:

• 2 Cups Green Seedless Grapes 2 points
• 1 Starbucks Frapp Dark Chocolate Peppermint Drink 4 points (6 Total Points)

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Total Daily Points 33

I did NOT have the Frapp last night so I only had 27 points yesterday!

They Are TRYING To Kill Me...

It's the ONLY viable explanation. They, refers to my Doctor's Office and my Insurance Company.

Let me explain... I am in the midst of going from using my local pharmacy to using a mail order pharmacy. I'm doing this for two reasons. First and foremost... the local pharmacy here is staffed by idiots. During the almost 4 months I've been here they have not ONCE filled or refilled my prescriptions without making NUMEROUS mistakes. Jack-Holes... sigh. I've them do everything from telling me my insurance says I have no coverage (Which, um... NO! Hello, when I called the insurance company they said they paid claims for all the meds I tried to fill that day.. ) to trying to fill medications I didn't ask for. HATE THEM. Second, my insurance company has decided that all maintenance drugs have to be handled through mail order.

So, during this little saga of switching over I've had a few... problems. First, the mail order pharmacy claims they never got the fax of my meds from my Doctors Office. The Doctors office SWEARS they faxed it. They finally re-sent it ... 2 weeks later. THEN, the Doctors Office has the wrong strength on one of my medications. They put 50 mg... it should have been 500 mg. That particular drug doesn't even COME in 50 mg... Anyway, the pharmacy had to wait for new orders from the Doctors Office confirming the correct dosage. That took another week. So.. yeah. I'm RAPIDLY running out of ALL my meds. I've purchased most of them locally for the last time. (You can do it twice per drug and have the insurance pay for it. After that you have to pay full price for it.) Unfortunately, one of my meds, the one that keeps me from being in EXCRUCIATING pain due to ... ummm... "elimination issues"... was filled twice already, due to a change in direction. I ran out... completely. I've been out for 2 days. Last night I did not sleep because of the pain I was in. I've called the Doctors Office 3 times now, including this morning, to get them to call in a script to the local pharmacy so I can PAY CASH for the med. They FINALLY called it in this afternoon. ::does a little jig::

Unfortunately, that caused other issues. Shecky gets out of school at 3:30pm. We were in town... 30 min away. I called the pharmacy at 2:30 pm to see if my meds were ready. The LOVELY young lady *cough* who was so PLEASANT *cough* and HELPFUL *choke* told me it would be another 30 minutes before the medication would be ready. We figured we could make it to the school JUST in time to pick up Shecky from school. We would have been right... IF it had taken only 30 minutes. It ended up taking over an hour. Shecky FINALLY got picked up from school at 4:00 pm after my father borrowed a friends truck to go get him. We got home the same time they did....

TRYING. TO. KILL. ME!

Anyone else have days like this?

Daily Menu for Weds 10-9-2007

Breakfast:

• 1 Frozen Biscuit 4 points
• 3 Slices Bacon 3 points
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray 0 points
• 1 Small Banana 1 points (8 Total Points)

Lunch:

• 2 Slices Delightfully Wheat Bread 1 point
• 2 Slices Lean Turkey Breast Lunch Meat 2 points
• 1 Slice 2% Pepper Jack Cheese 1 point
• Dijon Mustard 0 points
• 2tsp FF Mayo 0 points
• 1 oz Doritos 3 points (7 Total Points)

Dinner:

• 1 Sunbeam Hamburger Bun 3 points
• 7 oz Super Lean Hamburger Patty 7 points
• 6 oz Oven Fries 2 points (12 Total Points)

Snack:

• Starbucks Frapp. Dark Chocolate and Peppermint 4 points (4 Total Points)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Daily Points 31

Get Thee Behind me...

Temptation! Holy CRAP I'm having a tough time today. I'm not hungry yet I want to snack... on... everything. I'm not sure what the reason is though.

I'm mildly stressed about a couple of things going on but no so much that I should be having snack attacks. Its too soon for PMS. WTF?

I'm trying hard to fight the temptation but man... if I let my guard down for just a moment its gonna be BAD. Looks like a long day today.

Anyone have suggestions or hints for dealing with this? Please?

Daily Menu for Monday 10-8-07

Breakfast:

• 2 Soft Boiled Eggs 4 points
• 1 Package Instant Grits 2 points
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray 0 points
• 1 Slice 2% American Cheese 1 point (7 Total Points)

Lunch:

• 1 Can Honey Mustard Chicken Vienna Sausages 7 points
• 1 100 Calorie Pack Hostess Cupcakes- Yellow 2 points (9 Total Points)

Dinner:

• 10 oz Oven Fried Pork Chops 10 points
• 1/2 C Peas and Carrots 0 points
• 1/2 C Lima Beans 1 points (11 Total Points)

Snack:

• 1 Piece Core Cornbread 2 points
• 2 T Steens Syrup 2 points
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray 0 points (4 Total Points)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Points Today 31

I was really craving protein today for some reason. I did horrible on my fruits and veggies and milk. ALL I WANTED was protein. How weird is THAT? I'll do bettah tomorrow....

Update and Links I'd Like You To Visit

Good Morning! Happy Columbus Day! I have some things I wanna talk about today but its nothing terribly important.

Here's a quick update on the weight loss scene. I lost 5.2 lbs this week. I'm at my lowest weight in AGES. I now weigh 420 lbs. I'm getting so close to breaking the 400 lb mark I can freaking TASTE it. AIIIIIIGH. I found out last week I actually only gained 3 lbs not 5. Mom rounded up when she told me verbally. I yelled a long time about THAT one. Heh.

My walk today was really good. I managed 7 minute cycles of walking rather than 5 and I got in 10 laps per cycle rather than 7. It was sort of a power walk... for me. LOL. A REAL power walked would have looked and said... "Ummm... lady... yer CRAWLING" but I feel good about having managed to increase my time, speed and number of laps. Gonna aim for the same for the rest of the week.

My friend Jess over at Oh, The Joys is having a rough time. Her grandmother passed away very suddenly this weekend. She's got a very moving tribute to her up on her site. Please go by and check it out. Give her some support and love from the Blogaverse!

Another friend of mine, Wendy, over at One Day At A Time... is asking the Blog Community to stand up and help her support a really great cause. If you can afford to donate I encourage you to do so. If you can't, like me, perhaps linking to her and giving her more exposure for the cause would be a nice way to help out. Her email to me follows and it contains a link:

Tessa,

Hunger is an issue that has become very important to me and I have decided to get involved! I am walking in the CROP Hunger Walk and I need your help. Please consider making a donation to my efforts. Your donation supports programs that work to solve this world-wide challenge.You can help me by making a donation online. Click on the link below and you will be taken to my personal donation page where you can make a secure online credit card donation. Thank you,Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Church World Service.

Wendy

That's it for now. I'll be back tonight with today's Menu.

OH! Shecky is FINALLY off restriction and can go play. PRAISE JEBUS I made it through! errr HE MADE IT THROUGH... heh.

Daily Menu for Friday 10-05-2007

Breakfast:

• 1 C Oatmeal 2 points
• 1 C Skim Milk 2 points
• 1 Ham Steak 2 points
• 2 Servings Diced Pear 2 points (8 Total Points)

Snack:

• 1 Fat Free Cranberry Apple Muffin 2 points (2 Total Points)

Lunch:

• 1 Lean Cuisine Chicken Club Panini Sandwich 7 points
• 1 100 Cal Pack Carrot Cake Cupcakes by Hostess 2 points (9 Total Points)

Dinner:

• 1 Cup Cous Cous 4 points
• 4 oz Chicken w/ Lite Spaghetti Sauce 4 points
• Squash and Zucchini 0 points
• 1/2 C Green Beans 0 points
• 1 C Skim Milk 2 points (10 Total Points)

Snack:

• 1 Dark Chocolate and Peppermint Frappiccino 4 points
• 2 Slices Delightful White Bread 2 points
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray 0 points (6 Total Points)

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Total Points for the Day 35

Daily Menu for Thursday 10-04-2007

Breakfast:

• 2 Scrambled Eggs 4 points
• 2 Slices Bacon 2 points
• 2 Slices Delightful White Bread 1 point
• 1 Slice 2% Pepper Jack Cheese 1 point (8 Total Points)

Lunch:

• 2C Green Seedless Grapes 2 points (2 Total Points)

Dinner:

• 1 Piece Core Cornbread 2 points
• 1 C Black Eyed Peas 3 points
• 8 oz Venison and Pork Smoked Sausage 10 points (15 Total Points)

Snacks:

• 1 WW Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Bar 2 points
• 1 Starbucks Peppermint and Dark Chocolate Frappaccino Drink 4 points (6 total Points)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Points for the Day 31

Writers Guild

Here is a 7 year olds attempt at creative writing. How can you NOT love this kid?

The Amazon by Shecky Bo Becky

Me and Ray and Martina goes to the Amazon and see the animals and lions. I see a rose. I pick it up for Marina. The End.


I do believe my child has a crush. She's an adorable lil girl and he talks about her ALL the time. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Daily Menu for Weds 10-03-2007

Breakfast:

• 3 Pieces Bacon 3 points


• 1 C Cheerio's Cereal 2 points


• 1/2 C Skim Milk 1 point


• 1 Small Banana 1 point (7 Total Points)

Lunch:

• Salad (Iceberg Lettuce, Carrot, Cabbage) 0 points


• 2T Lite Honey Dijon Dressing 1 point


• 2 Slices Delightful White Bread 1 point


• 2 Slices 2% Pepper Jack Cheese 3 points


• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray 0 points (5 Total Points)

Dinner:

• 6oz Super Lean Ground Meat Hamburger 6 points
• 1 Slice 2% American Cheese 1 point
• 1 Sunbeam Hamburger Bun 3 points
• 4oz Oven Fries 2 points (12 Total Points)

Snack:

• 1 WW Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Bar 2 points
• 1 Starbucks Peppermint and Dark Chocolate Frappachino Drink 4 points (6 Total Points)

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Total Points for the Day 30

Calling ALL Lurkers!

Today is The Great MOFO Delurk! The Blogaverse is asking all our lurkers and regular commenters to talk to us! (So we know we're not talking to ourselves... but... ummmmm... I kinda do that ANYWAY... but... *cough* Yeah...)

Please let us know you're out there. ALL of you... talk ... to... ALL... Of.. US! WOOT!

Just so you don't feel like a doof with nothing to say, here's a question for ya.

"What is your dream job and why?"

My dream job is to be a professional singer. When I sing for other people its the ONE TIME I feel like I "belong" ... yanno?

Daily Menu for Tuesday 10-02-2007

Sorry I'm late with this.

Breakfast:

• 2 Eggs 4 points


• 1 package Instant Grits 2 points


• 1 Slice 2% Pepper Jack Cheese 2 points (8 Points Total)

Lunch:

• 2 oz Turkey Breast Lunch Meat 2 points


• 1 Slice 2% American Cheese 2 points


• 2 Slices Delightfully White Bread 1 point


• 1 WW Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Bar 2 points


• 1 oz Doritos 3 points (10 Points Total)

Snack:

• 2 C Green Seedless Grapes 2 points (2 Points Total)

Dinner:

• 6 oz Chicken Breast 6 points


• 1/2 C Cous Cous 2 points


• 1/2 C Lima Beans 1 point


• 1/2 C Corn 1 points (10 Points Total)

Snack:

• 1 Small Banana 1 point (1 Point Total)

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Total Points 31

God Bless Those Who Have Gone Before...

I have a favor to ask of you. Jenn over at Serving the Queens has had a terrible loss. One of her family was serving in Afghanistan. He was killed in the line of duty. You can read about it at the link above. She is creating an online card from her most recent post. You can find that post here. Please, Please, go comment and give this family your support, your thanks, your prayers, whatever you care to offer. Even if you don't support this war or believe in the reasons for it, this family lost someone they love... lend them a shoulder.

If you are a blogger please, pass these links along to your readers and encourage them to participate as well.

The email I received from Jenn follows:

"I've never asked for site visits before, but I'd like your help with this.

I'd like to make this link a card for Matt's parents. I'd like to get as many comments as possible for them over the next couple of days and then give it to them. The funeral is Thursday; would like to have it finalized at that point.

Can you please post this link to your blog and direct commenters to it?
It is for Terry & Cheryl Blaskowski, parents of Sgt. Matthew Blaskowski.

http://iservethequeens.blogspot.com/2007/10/of-america-heroes.html

Comments will be moderated; no anti-war messages will be posted.

Please, please, do your magic friends, and pass this link along to your friends, who can pass it along to their friends.....
Jenn "

Daily Menu for Monday 10-01-2007

Breakfast:

1 C Oatmeal 2 points
1 C Diced Peaches 2 points
1 C Skim Milk 2 points
1 Ham Steak 2 points

Snack:

2 C Green Seedless Grapes 2 Points

Lunch:

5 oz Chicken Breast 5 points
1 C Cous Cous 4 points
1/2 C Sweet Peas 1 point
1/2 C Cooked Carrots 0 points

Dinner:

1 Can Vienna Sausages 10 points
1 C Green Seedless Grapes 2 points
-----------------------------------------------
Total Points 32 points

The Missing Blogger Has Returned

I apologize for my silence of the last 4 or 5 days. We lost our Internet connection, got it back, spent Friday in town shopping, picked Shecky up from school and promptly headed to Houston for the weekend where we were very busy doing family stuffs.

A few items I want to address:

• The Game Plan is THE perfect family movie. The frickin' ROCK had me tearing up and laughing my butt off all at the same time.
• Today was weigh in day. I gained 3 lbs. I'm pissed. I'm frustrated. I'm depressed. Nothing really NEW there but I thought I'd just kinda... let ya know. Meh.
• We are going to a meeting tonight to sign Shecky up to play in a "Lil Dribblers" basketball league. I'm going to volunteer to be a scorekeeper or a time keeper... Pray For Me.
• The Game Plan is THE perfect family movie... WHUT? I know I'm repeating myself :P Its THAT dang enjoyable.
• I'll post a menu for today later after I have eaten everything I'm gonna. (Its 5pm here and I've eaten all of 9 points... NOT a good food day)

Hope you all are having a great day.

Daily Menu for Weds 9-26-07

Breakfast:

• 2 Eggs Scrambled 4 points
• 1 Slice 2% Pepper Jack Cheese 1 point
• 2 Slices Bacon 2 points
• Black Bean and Corn Salsa 0 points
• 1 C Skim Milk 2 points (9 points total)
  

Lunch:

• 2 Slices Delightful White Bread 1 point
• FF Mayo 0 points
• Mustard 0 points
• 1 Slice 2% American Cheese 1 point
• 2 Slices Ham Lunch Meat 2 points
• Salad (Iceberg Lettuce, Carrot Strips) o points
• 2 T Lite Honey Dijon Dressing 2 points (6 points total)

Snack:

• 1 C Green Seedless Grapes 1 point (1 point total)

Dinner:

• 4 oz Chicken Breast 4 points
• 1 C Whole Wheat Cous Cous 3 points
• 1/2 C Creamed Corn 2 points (9 points total)

Snack:

• 1 C Sugar Free Fat Free Pistachio Pudding 3 points
• 8 Sugar Free Short Bread Cookies 3 points (6 points total)

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Total Points for the Day: 31

Daily Menu Tuesday 9-25-2007

First, let me say I posted yesterday before eating dinner. There's a slight change. My Cheese was 3 points not two so I did NOT eat the WW Lemon Cake. :)



Breakfast:

• 1 C Cheerio's 2 points


• 1/2 C Skim Milk 1 point


• 1 Small Banana 1 point


• 1 t Splenda 0 points


• 2 Slices Bacon (ZOMG was that good!) 2 points (6 total points)

Lunch:

• 1 C Italian Veg. Soup by Progresso 0 points


• 2 Slices Delightful White Bread 1 point


• 2 Slices 2% Pepper Jack Cheese by Kraft 3 points


• 1 oz Southwestern Grilled Chicken by Oscar Meyer 1 point


• 2 T Light Honey Dijon Dressing by Newman's Own 2 points


• 1 Small Salad 0 points


• 1 Diet Soda 0 points (7 total points)

Snack:

• 1 Mini Chip Cookie Sandwich 2 points (2 points total)
  

Dinner:

• 4 oz Faux Chicken Fried Steak 4 points


• 3 oz Oven Home Fries 1 point


• 1/2 C Carrots 0 points


• 1 C Skim Milk 2 points (7 total points)

Snack:

• 3 Sugar Free Oreo Cookies 3 points
• 1 Mini Candy Chip Cookie Sandwich 2 points
• 1 Cup Skim Milk 2 points (7 total points)
  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Total Daily Points 29

Q&A or Varied Facts About My Being...

Katie over at LePetitChic is doing an interview MeMe. She said if we wanted questions to hollah in her comments... so I did. Here's the interview her asking... me answering!

1. What is your favorite childhood memory?

Hmmm this one is kind of tough. I have a lot of great memories from my childhood. My FAVORITE would have to be the trip we took, as a family, to Florida when I was about 11. We went to Disney world and camped all over the state. My SINGLE favorite memory of that trip was at a particular camp ground. There was a nesting pair of Bald Eagles there and the male of the pair LANDED IN OUR CAMPSITE! It wasn't very far from me and it was just AWESOME to see this bird so close up. Its something I'll never forget.

2. If you could live during any other decade other than the one we're currently in, which one would you choose?

God, politics and political climate aside? The '70's. Vietnam ended and it was like everyone started breathing again and having fun. Disco was King. The Bee Gee's Rocked... heh. I would have loved to have been an adult then... a YOUNG adult. :P

3. What's your favorite snack food?

I can go 2 ways with this. My favorite junk snack food is a Chocolate Covered Potato Chips. It dun get much junkier than that lol. Its the PERFECT PMS food for me. Salty and sweet with a melt and a crunch. Heh.

Since I'm currently doing Weight Watchers I'll give you my favorite HEALTHY snack food as well. Cold, sweet, seedless Green Grapes. LOVE those things. I could eat em all day.

4. What do you like to do on the weekends?

Weekends, for me, are much the same as any other day of the week here. Given my druthers I'd GO somewhere. The movies. A Play. A Concert. Whatever. Just DO something frivolous.

5. What inspired you to start blogging?

Ahhh I explained THAT a while back. Clicky HERE and HERE. It will reveal all.

If anyone wants to participate in this Interview MeMe hollah at me in the comments section and I'll get em to you ASAP!

Daily Menu Monday 9-24-2007

Breakfast

2 Slices Delightful White Bread by Sara Lee 1 point
2 T Peanut Butter 5 points
Sugar Free Artificial Honey (Its actually QUITE Good) 0 points

Lunch

1 Fried Chicken Breast from Churches Chicken 5 points
1 Small Side of Seasoned Cajun Rice 3 points
1 Small Side of Coleslaw 2 points
1 Honey Butter Biscuit 6 points

Dinner

1 C Mexican Veg. Soup by Progresso 0 points
2 Slices Delightful White Bread 1 point
2 Slices 2% Reduced Fat Pepper Jack Cheese (Kraft) 2 points
1 oz Chicken Breast 1 point
2 T Paul Newman Low Fat Honey Dijon Dressing 2 points

Snack
1 C Green Seedless Grapes 1 point
1 Lemon WW Cake 1 point
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Points 30 points

Weightloss Update

I know I've been horribly lax in updating on my weightloss progress. I have a good reason though... well... not a GOOD reason. More like a reason full of suck but... it is a VALID reason. There's been NO progress in the last 2 weeks. I've neither gained nor lost a single... frickin'... OUNCE.

I'm frustrated beyond belief. I seem to have hit a plateau so... I'm making some changes starting today. Hopefully it'll help me bust through the waistland of my efforts. (WAISTland... Huh Huh Huhuhuhuh... get it... *Sigh*)

I'm now walking every day. I'm still doing 15-16 minutes a day but I'm getting more laps in per cycle. I'm walking about 3 to 4 minutes per cycle and getting in 5-6 laps each cycle as well.

I'm also starting the Weight Watchers Flex Plan. My doctor told me this would be necessary sooner or later to bust a plateau... apparently its sooner. I'm only doing 30 points a day rather than the 40 GAZILLION WW says I'm supposed to have. I'm going to chronicle what I eat here each day. (Just skip these posts if you aren't interested lol) They all be labeled Daily Menu ... just so you know what to skip lol.

Hopefully these changes will fix the problem and get me some forward motion again. I DO have to say my stamina and ability to breathe while I walk are increasing so that is SOME progress... the scale ... it hates me. Meh.

Potts Mania!

There is a simple man named Paul Potts. He's a mobile phone salesman in South Wales. He won Britain's Got Talent. Let me tell you folks... this man... is just... WOW!

I tried to post a YouTube video of him singing on here but yeah... my connection sucks and it won't post more than a few seconds of it for some reason. Go to YouTube and search for Paul Potts Semi Final and get a load of this man's voice... and his heart! I've viewed the video so many times I no longer keep count and it moves me to tears every time.

I know Britain's Got Talent was a few months ago. I mention all this now because Mr. Potts has a CD in the stores now. I bought it yesterday and its been playing on repeat ever since. Yes... he sings Opera. I know a lot of folks are not fans of the genre but if you love a pure voice and listening to someone sing through their heart and their soul you MUST give this CD a listen.

The only REAL criticism I have of the CD is that My Way... in Italian... it just doesn't work for me. I would have loved to have heard him sing it in English as well as Everybody Hurts and You Raise Me Up. (The latter two work better in Italian than My Way did though.)

I'm not being paid for this, BTW. I just want to do whatever I can to help support this man and his fledgling career.

The Cheese Stands Alone

I have a 7 year old boy that I'm trying to parent, basically, alone. Its not that husband doesn't WANT to help. No, its not that at all. He's just not HERE. Its making it difficult for me to keep my cool with my son.

You can tell from the little stories I have shared with you that Shecky is... well... he's a live wire. He hates restrictions and rules and just not getting his way in general. I KNOW... that's typical of ANY child. However, mine likes to whine and cry. I don't mean a little. He pitches the fit of a lifetime... every time. I don't know what to do about it. I'm to the point now where I'm just SCREAMING at him a lot. Yeah. That's not working either.

I'm trying to figure out how much of it is because his daddy isn't around much and how much of it is him just trying to get his way.

Last night I may have found a partial solution. I sent his little whiny, petulant, pissy ass to BED... at 8pm. Usually he stays up till 8:30... sometimes 9 if something special is going on (Like Daddy Being Here!) Yanno what? He got up this morning easily. NO whining, no crying, pitching of fits. Just a few giggles, some goofiness and a smile for his momma. THAT is the kid I remember. Ya' think mebbe he's just over tired at the end of the day and Mommy is too much of a ditz to figure that out? Jebus... Dumb... Assery! My biggest talent! Heh.

What's your solution when your child is acting likey they belong to someone else ... or making you kinda sorta wish they did?

Bling, Bling, Bling Goes the Trolly!

I have to say I'm excited today. Wendy over at One Day At A Time has awarded me with my very first ever Blog Award! This award is given to folks that make us smile, think, inspire us or otherwise impact our days with their words. Thanks so much for thinking of me Ms. Wendy. I'm supposed to pass this on to 10 bloggers that inspire me or make a difference to me so... Here we gooooooooo...

First up is Zdoodlebub. She never fails to make me laugh or think. LOVE her.

Next is Lena at Cheeky Lotus her honesty about her life and her struggles is just amazing. And her kid? The CUTENESS BURNS!!! (Please put this on both your blogs. I read them both and love you long time! You get two of em!)

Then... there is Jenefer at Three Sons and A Princess. I've followed her through her trials in trying to and finally SUCCEEDING in adopting a lil girl from Russia and now through their move to Korea. She's a great read and has more strength in her lil finger than most people I know have in their entire bodies.

Mid way through and we have Ree over at Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. This woman NEVER fails to crack my shit up!

Another blogger that just fills my heart is Red over at Attack of the Redneck Mommy. She's funny so MUCH of the time, yet, she's so tender and poignant when talking of her Bug.

One of the first blogs I ever read was by Jess over at Oh, The Joys. She's WICKED funny and a WIZ with PhotoShop!

Next is Gray over at Gray Matter Matters. I've been lurking there for a good while and am always entertained by her.

DraMa over at Emancipation of a Drama Queen gets the nod as well. I've cried many a time with laughter because of this chickie!

Last, but in NO WAY least, is Tracey over at Sweetney. Her dry, wry wit keeps me coming back over and over and over. Her honesty in the face of what she perceives as her short comings is nothing less than beautiful. She's one of the most awesome Betches I know!

Come get your Bloggy Bling my friends and pass it along to 10 bloggers that trip yer trigger. Muah! Air kisses to each of you and thanks for putting it all out there for us on the vast internets!

How Low Can Ya' Go?

I want to apologize for my lack of posts lately. I seem to be loosing my resolve for a lot of things and I'm not sure why.

I seem to have hit a bit of a plateau with my weight loss. I'm more easily tempted to stray from the eating plan and yet at the same time I don't really want to eat... anything.

I'm still walking but its becoming a chore. Something I HAVE to do rather than something I WANT to do. My legs, they hurt. They're tired. So am I.

I have little or no patience with Shecky lately. I know he's tired after school but when I try to study with him or quiz him for a test its like he doesn't even try. He swears he's trying and he's focusing but I get more frustrated and angry each time he gives an incorrect answer.

I seem to be tired a lot. I'm sleeping well at night but during the day I just get so... listless. I don't want to do much of anything and when I DO make the effort to do something I'm just sort of... meh... about the whole thing.

WTF is WRONG with me lately? Is the single parenting getting to me? (Husband tries but he's not here for the day to day stuff that I get frustrated with.) Is it the lack of progress on the weight loss? Am I just going through a bit of depression again? If it IS depression do I just ride it out or do I talk to my DR about it? (By Dr I mean PCP not shrink. I dun have one of those... Mebbe I NEED one... bleh) Am I just tired of feeling alone all the time?

Husband and J are trying to make things as easy for me as possible. (J is someone very close to me and he and Husband share an apartment). They bought me a brand new laptop this past weekend and I was thrilled. Tickled pink. Unfortunately, the baseline BLEH I've been feeling is still there.

I've avoided posting in the hopes that this would just... pass. I didn't want to whine to the internets about how out of sorts I am but at this point... mebbe it will help. God knows not much else is!

I refuse to end this entry on such a downer. Here's a random story from when Shecky was a kid:

When Shecky was 2 or 3 he was OBSESSED... with Bob the Builder. I don't remember how he got introduced to that show, those characters, but he LOVED it. He was visiting my parents one summer while Dad was still finishing his build of this house. A friend of theirs was helping him. Shecky wandered out to where they were working and Dad introduced Sheck to his friend. Shecky, wide eyed and in awe, looked at this new person, holding a hammer, working on his Grandpa's house as my Dad said, "This is Mr. Bob." and then Shecky replied... "Bob... the... BUILDER!!!!" HE STILL calls him that... today... heh. Kids

{edited cause spellcheck doesn't catch it when I use the wrong word.. cough...}

Conversations At School...

My mother had to take something up to Shecky at school this morning. While talking to his teacher they had THIS conversation:

Shecky's Teacher: When is Shecky getting his eyeglasses?
Grandma: They told us in 7-10 days. Why? Is there a problem?
Teacher: Well, he's been asking me to repeat things a lot...
Grandma: Ummm, I don't think that has anything to do with his eyeglasses.

Me: (When Mom relayed this conversation) HOLY SHIT! You brought the SNARK!!!!!

Snark... its not just for kids!

9-11-2007

I've been struggling with this post for days. I know the importance of marking the passing of September 11. I know the remembrance of what happened 6 years ago today helped to shape who I am. I know that a moment of silence for all those that perished is only a minor tribute and that they deserve so much more, as do their families.

I know that on 9-11-2001 I lost the last vestiges of my innocence, of my naivete, as did a lot of other people. I know that on that day I thanked God my son was too young to understand what was happening and that my husband was no longer full time active duty with the military, and yet, I still feared these events would call him away from us into a war no one truly understands the reasons for or the motives behind. I know that the first shots in that war were fired at us, not by us.

I know that the damage done on that day was more than cosmetic and that no one who witnessed what happened will ever forget the fear, the sadness, the anger, the hurt or the confusion it caused. I know nothing will ever be the same. I also know, I wouldn't want it to be.

The events that happened on September 11, 2001 made me an adult. The realization that people out in the big, bad world wished me, and every other American, harm simply because we don't share the same belief systems, the same advantages and disadvantages, and the same geographic location, made me grow up. It made me step outside my safe, comfy little life and see how, perhaps, our lives are viewed by others and it made me sad that the intolerance that we've tried so hard to eradicate within our own country had reared its ugly head from the outside and invaded us once again.

I began to wonder if intolerance could ever really be done away with. I began to loose hope for the world my son would grow up in. I began to fear for the life my child would have in a world so adverse to allowing for differences, so against allowing people to have their own beliefs, so opposed to embracing the variety and welcoming the diverse experiences different cultures have to offer.

Then, something... happened. I watched our nation pull together. I watched people with no ulterior motives, no personal stake, no real personal cause to be involved ,sweep across the nation in a great tide of patriotism, belonging and pride. We prayed. We cried. We sang. We rallied. We stood strong. TOGETHER.

Our men and women are STILL fighting this war. Families are separated. Kids are doing without their parents. Spouses handle day to day life alone. Neighbors are helping one another get by in the absence of and the danger faced by their loved ones. They fight for our freedom. They fight for our pride. They fight for our way of life. They fight for US.

Today I make a choice. Today I step forward and challenge everyone else to do the same. September 11 is no longer a day of mourning. No longer a day to dread. I choose to have this date as a day to be thankful for what we GAINED on September 11, 2001. The losses will always be with us and we should never forget them but its time folks, its time to remember and be thankful for the renewal of our strength as a nation, as a people. Its time to look at 9-11 as a new beginning for us and as a reminder that we truly ARE all in this together and that united there's little that can take us down.