Another Friday Already?

Sometimes I wonder where the days go, then other times I know exactly where they've gone to.  I try hard to plan my days, but I think that the problem is that I plan too much into them and just simply run out of time.  Work often gets in the way of my play time.  I hate it when that happens, although it is a necessary evil!  For some of us anyway.  Work does take up a lot of my time, but at least it gives me something to talk about and for the most part I do enjoy my work.  For that I am thankful.

So, what else have I been up to all week?  Well, let me tell you.  I think that I mentioned that my doctor had recomended physical therapy for me, so I had set out to find a therapist that I could work with.  The therapy that was prescribed was massage therapy because she thought that I could gain the most benefit from that type of therapy because her theory is that I am not going to 'get better' as wih an injury, but that I might get relief from the pain and pephaps gain better range of motion.  So with prescription and a list of therapists in hand, I picked up the telephone and began dialing the phone.  An hour later I had spoken to many doctors offices and was now on the last page of my list, when finally I had an appointment set up for Tuesday of this week. The task at hand was not nearly as easy as I had anticipated!  So after work on Tuesday I don a pair of sweat pants, a T shirt and some sneakers and head on over to the office of, for privacy sake I'll call them PTI.  First,, I am introduced to the therapist, a seemingly nice enough woman who evaluates me and my aches and pains, etc.  From there she tells me what her plan of treatment is going to be for the day.   It started with electronic stimulis and heat and ended with - well- she called it a massage I called it a beating!  She actually told me to hang onto the table at one point.  Lucky for me she was being gentle.  Usually she uses a stool so that she can gain better traction, but being that it was my first time she decided to go easy on me.  Ha!  I am still sore and find it hard to believe that I am not bruised from the experience.  I went home feeling sick, tired, and totally worn out.  This is the most amazing part though, I went back on Thursday! 
But this time I had a different therapist.  A man this time and he was as different from she as night is from day.  The whole experience was different and I left feeling better, more energetic, better able to move and dare I say it-less fatigued.  I think I will stick with him if I can.

Spring Break begins for Bella.  She is off school all of next week and looking forward to some Spring-like weather.  We have had our fair share of rain around here and unfortunately we are expecting more.  Michelle had plans for tomorrow that were all outdoor but it looks like they will be cancelled due to the weather as we are expecting several inches of rain to fall-again.  (The ground is so water logged there is no place left for it to go!)  So plans will have to be changed to accomodate the weather but I think she won't mind.  Grandaddy has something special in mind.  I'll let you know if it pans out.  Usually during the break, Bella gets to spend a lot of time with her Grandad, but this year because it is so late, Jim is working at the golf course more than usual and their time together is very limited.  Bella was very disappointed to hear that, but not more that Jim.  They have a special bond and really enjoy their time together and their special outings.  It doesn't matter what they do, sometimes she will just help him with yard work.  But it's their time and that's enough.   

She's a lucky little girl!

Anyway, that's about all for now. 

I'm going cropping tonight!  Believe it or not!  Can't wait to see my girls.  Have a great weekend.

Kareb

A New Look

Decided I needed a new look for Fall.  What do you think?  Woke up this morning and the temperature had dropped by more than 20 degrees, so it seemed like an appropriate time.   I'm really not so good at this and when I add an element and put it somewhere I want it to go and it doesn't wind up there, I loose it.  Don't have very much patience with this kind of stuff.  Well, who am I kidding?  I don't have a whole lot of patience with a whole lot of stuff!  Ha!  Not my specialty that's for sure.  Anyway, got it up and in Fall colors, so that's what I was going for overall...

Found out what the stomach ache was all about.  After spending several hours in Immediate Care in severe pain, barely able to walk they decided that they are pretty sure that it is diverticulitus.  Pretty sure.  That's confidence inspiring.  Better than don't know, but still.  So, I was prescribed two antibiotics to treat the infection.  Hopefully that will take care of it, but gotta tell you-feeling pretty rough.  Again, these type of problems are not uncommon among MMD  patients, but sometimes it feels like I just get it all.  Enough already!  So last night after work I dropped off my prescriptions, stopped and picked up Bella from school and then went back and got the scripts.  Since both Michelle and Jim were closing, it was just Bella and I fo dinne and I wasn't much up to eating so I stopped at McD's for Bella, got he a Happy Meal and off we went on home.  She got a little Madame Alexander doll of Alice inWondeland in the Happy Meal and she asked who it was and I told her.  She was playing with the doll and kept calling her 'Allison' and I corrected her and told her that her name was Alice in Wonderland. She said that she thought that IN was a pretty silly middle name and she was going to give her a nickname.  When asked what the nickname was going to be?  "Allison"
OK.  Just so we're clear on the whole name thing.

Gotta love her.

And in other news, out local Scrapbook store is closing its doors.  Sad.  The owners have been trying to sell for about a year now and have not been able to find a buyer and with their lease coming up for renewal, they have decided not to renew.  They both  have young children and want to focus on their families needs, something that I understand truly.  But I will miss having them there.  They were a great source, particulary when I didn't want to go to the big box stores.  I liked working with the smaller stores too, but I do understand how difficult it must be to compete.  Still....sigh.

A Lot of Nothing Much

That's what I've been up to!  Not too much in particular, but a whole lot in general. 
The weekend seemed to fly by as per usual.  Saturday morning was a bit unusual as my narcolepsy really kicked in and I was having real trouble staying awake.  Michelle and I would be mid conversation and I'd nod off.  I'd wake up just a few minutes later not knowing that I'd been asleep and wonder why she had just stopped talking!  It is a very strange sensation.  I just couldn't right myself and wake up until about noon.  So unusual for me. 
Anyway, we then headed out to to some shopping.  We decided to make Jim a nice meal on Saturday night for dinner since he was working on Sunday and would be gone from 11-7, so we bought all the fixings that we would need.  I made a nice dinner and left the clean up to Michelle.
Sunday morning we went out to breakfast for Father's Day and when we got back Jim had to leave to go to work.  That left just me, Michelle and Bella  home for the day.  It was hot and miserable and the weather forcast was calling for more of the same with a terrible air quality, so we decided to stay indoors for the day.  With that in mind, we headed over to see Toy Story 3.  We had all been anxious to see it and Bella reminded us that it was 'in theatres now!', so it seemed like a perfect opportunity.   But I'll tell you, it just eats at me to pay $8.25 for a matinee!  I had a coupon for a free small popcorn so Michelle got a small drink, a regular drink and upgraded to popcorn to a  medium and it was $11.00.  Crazy.
Last night Bella had try outs for the Dance Company that she had been invited to try out for.  There were like 10 girls who tried out and they expect to have only 5 openings.  We have no idea though how she did as all the parents were kept in the hallway and not allowed to view the try outs.  They expect to have letters out telling the girls of their decision by the end of the week.  I'm not sure how I feel about it to tell you the truth.  I think that if she is in the company it will be a good experience for her, but on the other hand it is a lot of practice and pressure for a small child.  Bella wants to do it and has a good attitude about making it or not right now, I just hope that doesn't change if she doesn't make it, as it often does with kids.  Right now her main concern is that she might be taking a spot from another child who wants it more or who would be hurt by not making the team.  So we'll just have to see what happens.
In other news, I am down 2.6 more pounds this week!  That makes a total of 18.something (I can't remember what she said exactly).  I had lost 6 right before I started so I am almost at 25!  I want to get to 25 with Weight Watchers though because then I get a key chain.  Stupid I know, but I need all the encouragement I can get!  Ha! 
Stay tuned, hopefully I'll come back with pictures soon...

We Had A Bull Frog...

In our basement.  That's true.  This is what happened.  Timmy had a terrarium in which he had some kind of red bellied tree frog or something like that.  Over time he added newts to the terrerium.  To feed these things he would make trips to the pet store and buy crickets and some kind of disgusting worms for his 'pets'.  On one such trip one of the girls at the pet store who, according to Jim, had been flirting with Tim offered to give him a bullfrog for hi terrarium because it could not be sold.  Tim said sure and took the frog and put it in the terrarium.  That was a while ago and the first frog has long since moved on to froggie heaven, as have a couple of the newts.  (Newt heaven to clarify.)  Now we are down to one rather large, loud, obnoxious, bullfrog, and one pretty small, lethargic, sickly newt.  Said newt got caught in the filter of the terrarium and then there was just the big, loud frog.  In my basement. Remember we have a water garden in the backyard, with fish, snails, and yes, frogs in it.  So, let me put this in perspective for you.  I would be in my basement,  working on my crafts, minding my business, late at night, by myself,alone, in the dark.  When suddenly, cutting through the quiet, still night there could be heard a loud- BRRRUURPP.  It would scare the crap out of me!  Then the frog outside would answer and the two frogs would start 'talking' to one another.  One from inside-one outside.  And the one inside was in a large terrarium that was in desperate need of a good cleaning because its occupant was far too large for it and its' owner had moved leaving him behind.  What's a Mom to do?  Talk Dad into catching said frog and letting him join his froggy friend in the great beyond.  You know, beyond the back door-I'm not that mean!

Caught!

We have a landing...

And lift off!

Can you see him there?  Jumping in to join his friend?  We have since heard them in the evenings singing to each other.  It is much better this way.  Trust me.  We are all happier with the new room arrangement!

In other news, I am still loosing.  That's right, the scales are still heading in the right direction.  It is a slow, but steady process.  I have only had one week where I had a gain and that was after my weekend in NJ.  Not sure why, but most likely due to some imbibing of adult beverages.  That is what I am attributing it to anyway, can't really think of anything else because I tried to be pretty goood considering the circumstances.  But I have learned to take the good with the bad.  So this week, I lost what I had gained.  I keep hoping to be able to add some exercise into the mix, but I just don't seem to be able to find any extra time in the day.  I am hoping that after the big birthday party is over I will be able to walk in the evenings.  I do continue to wear the pedometer on a daily basis and I find that I am taking an average of 9,000 steps daily.  Some days I do way more and some days less, but that is as I said an average.  I am working to make that average 10,000 and I don't think it will take too much effort. 

Well, that's about all for now.  Tomorrow is Friday, Bella is sooo excited!  Today she looked at me and said "GaGa, June 3rd!  Then June 4th and then June 5th!!"  We have yet to hear from 2 of the girls, Michelle asked Bella if she could ask the girls for their phone numbers so she could call their Moms.  Bella came home from school and said that the one girl didn't know her phone number but the other one did.  Michelle said great, what's her phone number?  To which Bella replied: 4837!  Either we  have a really long phone number or something got lost in translation!

Lazy Weekend

And that was okay with me!  I have not been feeling well as of late and I have been struggling with it.  I'm being brought down by constant headaches (terrible ones), pain and extreme fatigue.  I try to just go on about my business, but sometimes it is more difficult to deal with and this has been one of those times. 
So, Friday night we stayed in.  I watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and then thought I'd go to sleep, unfortunately sleep eluded me.  I was up for the large majority of the night, so Saturday morning I didn't feel too rested. 
Michelle had asked me to drive her and Bella to dance class, because the roads (and the drivers) had Michelle freaked out and she didn't want to deal with the downtown structure on top of it all, so I too them.  Let me just say, the roads were awful!!  They had been plowed, but most were one lane and that was all ice that was rutted.  Huge mounds of snow everywhere, trees were down and people were getting stuck in the middle of the road,  It was not fun!    After dance, we pretty much did nothing.  Jim had wanted to run a few errands with me and I tried, but was really struggling and felt just awful so we went home.  After some rest, I felt the need to redeem myself to Jim for pooping out on him, so I made him one of his favorites for dinner-chicken pot pie.  I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe and it was delicious!
We had to  miss church again on Sunday and I really hate that, but between me feeling poorly and the downtown roads, we didn't have much of a chance.  Our church is in downtown and the parking can be a challenge on the best of days, but with the snow on the sides of the roads there is very little to no parking.  It is one of the disadvantages of our church, but because there are so many advantages to it we stay.
Bella had been excited all week about Valentine's Day.  She just couldn't wait!  All week she worked hard on little projects for each of us and when she went to bed on Saturday night she said I'll see you on Valentine's Day!  She had even suggested to her Granddaddy that if we were up to it (meaning me!) we should go out to dinner.  So she came down in the morning with cards for Jim and I as well as a small box of chocolates.   We had to be in the room together and then we gave her a box of chocolates and a little gift and a card.  She was just so excited!  After a breakfast of red pancakes, which I cooked, Jim ran to the grocery store and came home with flowers for me, Michelle and Bella and these babies:

Yum! He is so thoughtful and loves to give gifts!  They are of course chocolate covered strawberries and where the stem was removed it is stuffed with a mixture of ricotta cheese and whipped cream, like a cannoli cream.  So good!  Michelle had bought sparkling grape juice and so we had a little celebration.  Bella ate three of these strawberries!  She thought they were just great!

She also insisted on 'cheering' with her glass.  She is too cute!  She thought that the special juice tasted just like the 'stuff we dip our bread into at church'! 

Afterwards, Bella went off to play in her room and Michelle and I watched "The Proposal".  It was a very cute movie, if you haven't seen it I'd reccomend it.  After my nap, we all went off to Longhorn for dinner and when we got home we watched The Amazing Race.  It was a great day! 

So, what did you all do?  Hope everyone had a great weekend.