A New Chapter

 Well, everyone pretty much knows by now, that I'm
losing my little alarm clock. Chas got his job in WY, and next week Heather and Troy will be moving there as well. I have mixed emotions about it, sure, I'm happy that they're going to be able to live together as a family in a place of their own, but at the same time....

I've developed the relationship I've always wanted with my sister. We have started scrap booking together, and I'm used to seeing her and Troy each and every day. Troy has been around me since he was born, when Heather had post partum, I stepped in and tried to help any way I could with the baby, and at times, even just took him from her to give her a break.Since his birth, as with Tucker, and all my other nieces and nephews, Troy has woven his way so deep into my heart, that I know I'm gonna miss his goofy smiles, bath times, and even playing Andrea Bocelli at night when he's sleepy.

I hope that I get to see him more often than not, but only time will tell. I will miss the scrap booking with Heather, just sitting around talking to her, and yes, even fighting with her a little bit. I am happy for them, selfishness aside, and only wish them the best. Hopefully Dave and I will be moving on soon, fingers are crossed and the search is deep. We're working on cutting out bills that are not necessary, and though it took time and work, I managed to single handedly knock out $200 + a month by working on getting out of my Inches A Weigh contract. I had told them that I cannot afford it anymore, then after the owner e-mailed me back saying he'd be happy to postpone 2 payments, I told him that it wasn't a solution to the problem, that I wasn't happy with how I've been treated there also. Last night when I logged into my E-Mail, I found a message from the Owner of Inches A Weigh, he said that he releases me from the contract and the payments. It was like Christmas all over again.

Happy Holidays

 A few weeks ago, Janelle referred me to Sears when she got her pictures taken. I was called and notified that I  had won a FREE 10x13 portrait and sitting, and set up a date to go in a week later.
 Through the week, I began to realize that I really didn't want my picture taken, so I sat down with Dave and after a nap the night before the appointment, I remembered always hearing Mom say how she would like a picture of ALL her grandkids together. I thought, and thought, and thought some more, then went to Dave and told him about an idea I had. Instead of Dave and I getting our pictures taken, we thought it'd be a nice surprise if we got Tucker, Josie and Troy together for a session so to speak.  Dave called and made arrangements with Marsh and Emily about it, made sure they liked the idea, while I talked to Heather and Chas. We all thought it'd be a great idea, and take advantage of a free session.  That following day, we ALL made it to the appointment, and though Josie was trying to sleep and often cranky, it was a lot of fun. This is one of the versions of the photo that I chose. It was the best of all the kids together, and the one for mom is in color, and the 10x13. There were some really cute ones of the kids separately, but we couldn't afford it at the time, and hopefully we can order those soon as well.
  I hope you all enjoy the picture, Dan, Chrystal, I've got one for you guys that 'll come soon. Other than that, life here has been pretty busy. We've been making and preparing Christmas Gifts, babysitting, working, and trying to help out around the house. For the first time in 5yrs, I'm excited for Christmas and have been watching Christmas Movies with the kids, looking at the lights as we drive at night, and just do window shopping. I've succeeded at riding the workout bike at Inches A Weigh, and will eventually be able to follow my meal plan. Well, it's time to get ready to workout. Happy Holidays to everyone and take care!

Not Again!

  Yesterday I woke up with a little pain in my lower left side of my abdomen. As the day progressed, so did the pain, and now it's almost unbearable. I haven't made it to the doctor to be checked out, but have a really strong hunch it's a Kidney Stone. I haven't got the money to pay the "patient portion" of the office call, so I've basically put myself on a mostly liquid diet, and avoiding things that can cause the Kidney Stones.
  As soon as I possibly can, or if the pain gets worse, I'm going to visit the doctors to find out for sure what's going on. I hope that it's not anything worse than that, and that things will run smoothly.

What a Day

 Well, I know it's been about a week or so since my last entry, so I figured, it's time to do one now. Monday, after a long discussion with Dave and some "calculating" I joined Inches-A-Weigh. For those of you who don't know about IAW, either google it, or I'll tell you that basically it's a Lazy Woman's way to lose weight, at least with the exercise.
  They set me up with a personalized menue, diet and I have my own "coach", and part of the sign up includes supplements. Some of the Supplements are Folic Acid, calcium, and Fatty Acid. I took a Fatty Acid suppliment today, and am regretting it. Since I took it, I have burped fish, and for those who know me, know that I cannot stand the taste of fish. It literally makes me physically ill, and I've gotta do something about it.
  I know it's essential to reaching my goal weight, and well, I'm not gonna tell you what it is, or how long it's SUPPOSED to take for me to get there if I follow the program religiously, but there's gotta be another way to go about it. I am going to see what they can do when I go in tonight. No matter what I eat or drink, whenever I burp I want to puke because of the taste that comes up.

  As if that wasn't enough, one of the kids I babysit pooped his pants. He's partially potty trained, in the sense that he can pee in the toilet, but won't poop in it. Instead, he poops in his pull up without warning and sad to say, it's NEVER solid. Today, he'd gone all up his back, outside and down the sides of his jeans, the back of his shirt, even his socks. He'd gotten it on the floor, blocks and somehow managed to make it to the bathroom without getting it anywhere else.
  I took the liberty to clean up the livingroom floor and then bleach the blocks first, while I was doing this, the kid was standing in the bathtub so he wouldn't get the bathmats all messy. While scrubbing the livingroom carpet, I burped, got a gross look on my face and Aunt Ann, who had shown up, asked me what was wrong. I said I didn't know what was worse, the smell or the taste of the suppliment. They all laughed, at my expense as to be expected, and then I went about cleaning things up. It took nearly an hour to make sure I got everything cleaned, including bathing a really embarassed little boy. After I got it all taken care of, I lit a candle, bleached everything and then decided to share the experinece with the world.
  The whole time I was thinking "It's part of the job" and though I'm ready to puke, I handled it pretty well. Since then, there were no accidents, or problems. It was basically smooth sailing and now we're just down to Kaitlynn and Madison. Looking forward to my workout tonight and then on to see if we can get Tika into a new home. I will keep you all posted on everything that goes on. Sometime Josie will enter this world today too.

Only One Of MY Animals

 A week or so ago, Dave and I had been asked to watch Troy overnight while Heather and Chas spent some time camping with Chas', I mean, Monroe's family. I agreed to it, and we put the Bassinet in our room, by the bed. After they returned, I never got around to taking it out of our room, and the other night, Duster decided he'd sleep on our bed.
  Merlyn tried to jump on our bed but Dave kicked him off, so I called him back up thinking that he'd curl up against me as he usually does. Instead, he jumped into the bassinet, and slept there all night long, and into the day. It was funny to see him sleeping there, and I am SO not going to make that a habit, and it's definitely not staying in my room much longer. I think it's safe to say that my animals are unique. They've all got their own little quirks. Merlyn and where he sleeps, how he walks, and his fears. Mason with his "Motherly" instincts, even Jeriko, Dave's 1 1/2 eared cat that is cross eyed.

 OK, so here's the story. I went to the dentist today to get a crown, for the 2nd time. As I feared, it didn't fit, so they had to make mold #3 and send it back. I made the appointment to return to have it put on, and while I was there, I was joking with the assistant about eating some Bit O Honey.
  She said not to eat it, that it wouldn't be a good idea, and I just shrugged it off. Later this evening, I was chewing on some Bit O Honey, mainly because it helps with my cough, when all of a sudden, I found some pieces in it. I looked through the piece that I was chewing on,  and found my filling, and half of my tooth. I guess now I have learned my lesson to listen to what I'm told. I now have to wait through the weekend, possibly longer, to have this one fixed. So very lovely isn't it?
  The look on Dave's face was absolutely priceless when I showed it to him, he just about died of shock. It doesn't hurt, just annoys me because my lip rubs against the "hole" left there. We'll see how things go. All I know, I need to back off on the sweets, which I want to do anyway. I'll keep everyone posted and provide pictures of the final results as they come. I just hope they can do something with it, so I don't have a missing tooth.

The ONLY Time

 Today Dave celebrated his 32nd birthday. He was fortunate to get the day off of work, but I got sick. I am getting a sinus infection (surprise, surprise) and a bit of a cold. Although it was his day off, and I wanted him to enjoy it how he wanted, I was allowed to lie down for a while, and he took care of the kids. Fortunately, it was a easy day with the kids, and we didn't have many issues with them.
  When asked what kind of cake he wanted, Dave chose a Yellow cake with Strawberry frosting. I jokingly said that if I didnt' know any better, I'd question my husband's sexuality, but really, how can you avoid PINK frosting if it's Strawberry flavored. He wanted it from scratch, but went along with a cake mix instead because I'm under the weather. I think it was a good day for him though. He got Iron Man 2, a bag of "goodies", and his baby brother came for the cake and ice cream. Everyone got along, and he seemed to have been happy. Just too bad the rest of his family couldn't make it, that would've been the best gift he could've ever had.