Zac is ready for May!!!

I asked Zac if he is ready for tomorrow and he said, "I am ready for May. I am so sick of school." Now, as you know, tomorrow is the FIRST day of school. Yesterday, I took Autumn for her 9th grade, freshman orientation. I can't believe that I have a senior and a freshman. The in-laws said that Gray will be the one to keep us young.

Wow, what a difference a year makes. On this night, for the previous 5 years, I was concentrating on MY first day back to school (did I have everything ready, did I have everything that I needed for plenty of student work, etc. ). Today and tonight I have been totally concentrating on the kids (ironing Gray's shirt, getting Autumn new makeup, getting lunches ready, getting stuff to make a chocolate cake...) I promised Gray I would make him a chocolate cake while he was at school tomorrow. Poor fella, he has been waiting on that cake since June. I also got some elastic measured to sew Autumn a "retro" dress. Poor girlie, she has been waiting on that since about last Christmas.

So, my plans for tomorrow are to take first day pictures (my tradition every year), walk Gray to school, clean the house like a mad woman, make a chocolate cake, sew a skirt, visit my mother, and have dinner prepared before 3:00. I think I can, I think I can, ....

Happy Anniversary Baby

20 years!!!!

Happy Birthday to me

Wow, I sure do feel differently than last year. I don't know if it is because I am used to the "40's" or if it is because I made the decision to quit work. Today was a good day. Nothing special. We went to my fave for lunch, "Chinese" and then hung around the house. David and I went to the grocery store and watched COPS together. David played video games with Gray and Autumn some. I got one gift... a bottle of Suave (coconut) shampoo from Zac. It seems crazy but it really was a very thoughtful gift because coconut is my favorite scent.

We have been back from the beach a few days and we are leaving in a couple of days for a camping trip with friends. The summer has been very busy.

I can't do this!!!

No one told me how hard it was going to be as a parent of a teenage girl. Being the parent isn't the hard part but being a good one is. It is such a balancing act, I can't be too permissive but I can't be too strict. According to Autumn I am the strictest parent ever. The problem for Autumn is having a dad with the type of job he has. He just knows too much about teenagers. She wrote me the nicest Mother's Day card about how she really did understand why I am so careful about what she gets to do and how that shows that I really love her. But, when she is wanting to do something that "all" the other kids are doing and I won't let her do it, she forgets about the "love" part. I don't want her to be "different" but, I just feel that some parents are just too permissive. I know my parents were too permissive and there were many times that I was in some bad and even dangerous situations. Maybe that is why I am strict about what she does. I know how easy it is for something bad to happen.

I want my little girl back that played with Polly Pockets.

Lost and hopefully not to be found again

I have lost several pounds on my journey. I am really wanting a Sonic Java Chiller. That is going to be my reward when I reach my first weight lost goal. Hopefully it will be in 3 weeks.

May 3rd---Java Chiller!!!

Having an aging parent is the pits

I have now taken over my mother's bills and medicine. My sister has done it for several years and it is causing a strain on her home life, so I volunteered to do it for a while. My mother thinks that my sister is using her (mother) money and she also thinks that the druggist is shorting her meds. (my sister's husband). Neither thing is happening and I know for sure bec. I have counted her meds and have seen the checkbook. So, on Wed evening I took Mother to the store to get groceries, to the drugstore, and to pay her bills. I showed her each check that I wrote and made a list showing how much money she has used and gave her $10 in cash for whatever she needed. By Thurs. evening she needed toilet paper. I told her to send my nephew with the $10 to the Dollar General. She couldn't remember me giving her a 10 ( so it is apparently already spent by my nephew), By Friday, she wanted me to go get sugar. I can't go to the store every day for one thing. But, that is, BY FAR, the least of my worries. By Fri. afternoon, she was calling my sister demanding her meds be brought to her. (I am keeping them at my house). I went over to her house and look in her med box. She had used all of her med for Sat and it was only 4:00. I asked her about it and she said that she hadn't taken anything all day. Then she remembered taking some med. and writing it down on paper. She had taken almost double what she was supposed to take. She is to take 1 tablet every 6 to 8 hrs. She had taken 1 1/2 in a little over 3 hours! That may be why she thinks the store is shorting her. She is taken too much and too soon. What is so pitiful is that she looks so confused about. She rants and raves about people doing her wrong but then when you show her mistake, she looks so confused. It is like a roller coaster of emotions... one minute i am mad bec. she is ranting and then I a guilty for being mad. She had always been "high-strung" so it is hard to tell what is her "hard-to-get-along-with personality" and what is old-age dementia.

I am proud of myself

I have done much better this week with the "diet-thang". I am treating myself to a Klondike Bar. I had no plans to treat myself so early in the game, but David came back from Walmart with my "diet" food for lunch tomorrow and in he walks eating a Klondike bar. I can't say no since I have been "good" today..... cooked oatmeal for breakfast, salad and strawberries for lunch, soap and salad for dinner.

Now I Am Enlightened

I have rejoined Weight Watchers and have logged all of foods that I have eaten this week. Well, now I know why I keep gaining weight. I have 3 more days to go and I have used WAY, WAY more points than allowed. I didn't realized how much I was (am) over-eating. Next week, I have got to do better about cutting back and exercising more.

Zac Bought A Car

Zac bought his first car. We told him we would match whatever he saved up and he found a car that he could afford, that wasn't junked out. Actually, it is way better than my first car. Now, he can go back to work since he has transportation. I am a little surprised that he isn't more excited. When I bought my first car, I was washing it and putting my stuff in it as soon as I got home. He drove it in the driveway and parked it and went back to his computer game. He did text his friends about it.

I think that when he gets older, he will appreciate our helping him to have responsiblity for buying his own car and paying for his own insurance.


Weigh in after camping: 160.2

Oh, What A Wonderful World

We got back from camping yesterday. We had a great time. My sister brought her camper and some friends rented a camper at the campground. The kids played and played and played. Zac was laid up bec. he had his wisdom teeth removed last Friday but he managed (thanks to WIFI). I can now mark one thing off of my list of things to do.....Camp next to the stream at Buck's Pocket. That has been on my list for 20 years.

It was a beautiful spot for camping. Every morning I drank coffee by the rapids and listened to the water flowing and the birds chirping. I am always amazed at how God created these sights and sounds just for me. At least that is how I feel when I am alone in nature. That is the best time when we go camping in the woods or even if we are at the beach, the time before the kids are up and it is quiet and I can be alone with God.

Some other things I want to do... tent camp on the cliff at Cheaha State Park, see Hawaii with David's friend that lives there (all of her family are original Hawaiians), see Montana or the Dakotas, drive up the eastern seacoast in the fall, go back to the Florida Keys, go back to the Grand Canyon and stay longer

Things that were on my list but are now done... drive to the Pacific Ocean, drive to the Keys, ride on an airboat in the Everglades, visit Miami, walk across the border into Mexico, stay in Palm Springs, see the Grand Canyon, see the Rio Grande

When is the rain going to end?

I have got things that need to be done outside and I need some sun. The weatherman says that tomorrow will be sunny but I want it TODAY!

Hardest part of being a mom

Today I took off in order to take Zac to have his wisdom teeth removed. I had mine done about 16 years ago and remember it being not to0 bad. But, today was different bec. now it was my son. Of course I thought about how he could stop breathing (he was in the NICU when he was a baby for breathing problems, but outgrew the problems), be in pain, later get an infection....... When I went into the recovery room and saw him shaking and "out-of-it" .... Moms just want to be able to make everything instantly better. I am going to miss him so much when he goes for college. I will be Mrs. Krank ( Christmas with the Kranks) when her daughter leaves the nest.

NOW I've hit rock bottom

I ran in Penny's to get a pair of jeans bec. I have noticed it is difficult to BREATH in my clothes.

So, I thought,"ok, I'll get a size up." No biggey.. I've been there before. NO, NO, NO, I had to get TWO sizes up. I told David, "It must be the manufacturers. They are making them smaller now." But, I know the truth...

I came home (from the Mex. rest., no doubt) very unsettled about all of this.

I got up this morning with more resolve. I wanted to sleep a little later but I made myself get up and get some water and get on the treadmill.


Water: 1 glass
Walk: 1 mile in 20 min (jog two-tenths)
weight: 162.6 lb

Extra Points for Me

I have bus duty this week so I had to get up 30 min early (5:00 which was really 4:00 a few days ago) in order to walk on the treadmill. But... I did it!!!

walk: 1 mile in 21 min at apx 3.0 mph (the mph may not be accurate but who cares about that)
water: 2 glasses (yea, again)

Now I am going to put dinner in the crock pot and get ready for school.





walk: 1 mile on track
water: 2 glasses

hit rock bottom

Well, I have hit rock bottom (or rather my bottom looks like something hit it). I have decided I will rejoin Weight Watchers after Spring Break IF I can prove to myself that I won't be wasting the money. I have been known to join and never do anything with it and it charges $20 each month. So, to prove to myself that I am "worthy" of spending the $20 each month, I am going to faithfully walk on the treadmill 5 out of 7 days each week. So far I have walked three days in a row.

Date: 3/8/09
Weight: 166.0 lbs.
Walk: 1 mile in 23 min. at apx. 3.0 mph

The next goal is to drink water and then to drastically reduce soft drink consumption.

Good luck to me on my journey.

Senile at 40???

Today I took Autumn and a friend to a paint ball battle to meet up with some of her other friends (it was the b'day of one of the boys). His mom was there and she just talked and talked to me. Since it was so far from our house, she offered to bring Autumn and her friend home. I thought.."She sure is a nice lady." We left and went to get ice cream while they played. We came back about 30 min before it was over and I just talked and talked to this woman and her husband. Then she started talking about people I went to school with. I said, "Did you go to Dora?" She looked at me kind of crazy and said,"yes". I said, "Now, what did you say your name was?" She looked at me even crazier and said, "Nancy, Nancy ******" I was so embarassed... we grew up together and went to school together from 1st grade to 12th. We were in Girl Scouts together and I even spent the night at her house. I guess she thinks I am so crazy.

How many kids do you have???

Well, I guess today I really didn't know because I forgot how many I have and left one standing in the rain as I happily pulled away. I was off today to take my oldest for an eye exam. It was pouring rain and so I pulled over to the school parking lot to pick up my other two kids. I was also getting my youngest son's friend. The two boys came out of the building and since Gray isn't used to me picking them up, I had to motioned for them to hop in my car and not my neighbors car. They (Gray and his friend) hopped right on in and away I went. We got in the door of the house and I said, "Where is Autumn?" Then I realized that she was still AT school. I threw my shoes back on and grabbed the keys and out the door I went. Luckily for her my neighbor saw her standing in the pouring rain and brought her home just as I was walking out the door. I was dying laughing to think that I forgot I have a daughter. Autumn said that she came out of the school just as I was happily pulling away. Her first thought was, "I can't believe I am going to have to walk home in this rain." I must be getting old and forgetful.

Real Life TRAUMA IN THE ER

My sister was driving home from a church event New Year's Eve with her husband, son, preacher and his wife. My sister was driving and the preacher's wife was in the rear seat. They were on I65 near the Finley exit. A car pulled up beside them and SHOT my sister's friend!!!!. They called 911 and told the police they were getting off the interstate at the Flying J truck stop. THe police had a car nearby and was there within a few seconds. They called the paramedics and ambulance. Monica was shot in the chest and rushed to the ER. Luckly, the bullet entered her chest and exited under her arm. It is amazing that no organs were damanged!!!. No one was caught bec. the police said it was "a random" shooting and would not even talk to witnesses, even though my family had a description of the car. You think this only happens on TV.