New Years Eve

Happy New Years Eve to everyone!

I am not sure how I got stuck working today but I did. I guess it is a good thing since it keeps my mind off our ruined evening. I am not sure how many of you have read my blog since last New Years Eve but Mark and I have done the same thing for New Years Eve for years. The campground that we camp at has cabins that they rent too. The big group of us that camp together all get cabins and have a big party on New Years Eve. It is so much fun being with our "summer" buddies in the winter! It would of been a little sad this year since Kathy and Stan will not be there but Kathy is doing really good so we are all happy about that. Last year it snowed 12 inches from the time we went to bed (around 2:00am) till the time we got up (8:00am) It was amazing to wake up to that much snow when there was NONE on the ground when we went to sleep a few hours before.

Well anyways, that is what our plans were for this year also. Check in is at 3 so I was going to work till 2 or 3 and then go check in right after work. Well the camp ground has no power, which equals no heat, so they won't allow the cabins to be rented. So now we have no plans. I am sure we will come up with something but.....it is just sad.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve and that you ring in the new year with those close to you. I wish all of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!

Christmas was wonderful for all of us. I was very happy with everything. I got everything that I wanted and my family was all around me. The kids were all very happy with thier gifts and so was hubby! Yeah!
I got an extra special gift today, very early in the day actually. My daughter called me early this morning. She had news for me. She is pregnant!! She didn't want to tell me earlier since her ultrasound was today. I am not sure if any of you remember but Manda lost a baby not so long ago and she is so afraid of dissapointment this time around also. She is 8 weeks along, so danger is not out of the way entirley so please keep her in your prayers. She had an ultrasound today and she heard the baby's heartbeat. She had to call me after hearing that!! I am very excited. I am very nervous for her and I am praying that things go really good this time!
She will be coming out to visit tomorrow for a bit. Aiden will be coming tomorrow for the weekend also. We had lots of ice this morning, I could not see out the windows of the house when I woke up this morning, that is how much ice there was. It was just coated on everything! We have to wait till tomorrow to get Aiden, didn't want to chance the roads this morning. So tomorrow will be fun with my baby!! We have lots of new games to play. Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land!! Yea Grandma is excited about those games. Aiden and I will be playing all day!
I do have pics to post from Christmas but I haven't got them loaded yet. I will do that soon and post some for you all to see. I am very tired and off to bed. Have a wonderful evening.

Hello!

Hello! Wow where have I been? At work and crazy busy is where I have been! I have managed to get all my baking done and the shopping. I do still have some presents that I have to wrap this morning but other than that I think that I am all set! It was a challenge to get it all in but it is done.
There has been so much snow here! Every time it snows it seems we get tons more people in the operating room! I thought we would be slowing down coming up to the holidays but so far that has not been the luck. Ah well it is a good thing that I love my job!
My kids will all be here later this afternoon. We will be heading over to my husbands brothers house for the family party with his family. I am very excited about it. I pick Aiden up at 1:30 and then head over there. Mark had to work today for half a day, yuck! I feel bad for him but they were just having a party anyways so I guess it isn't so bad!
My family party was last Saturday. We had a very nice time. Aiden got some really cool gifts. He will be here this weekend with us so we will get to play with them then! I can't wait.
Tomorrow the kids will all be here in the morning. We will open gifts and have breakfast and then the kids will all head to their dad's for the family party with his family. Mark and I will stay here. My sister will come over and we will have mismosas in the hot tub and prime rib dinner later that afternoon. YUMMY! It is a tradition we started when I moved out here and I love it! It is a quiet afternoon and very enjoyable after all the rushing and hustling in the previous weeks.
Well I need to get off here and get some things done before I go get Aiden.
Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Better day

Yes we had family pictures done today. They took over 50 different pictures. I have Holiday ones of the entire family and just regular ones of the whole family. I have some of Aiden alone and some of just Aiden and Jeremy. I also got some of Manda and her b/f Zac. I did get a few of Jeremy alone because I wanted one to put on the "gradautaion" wall. I have pictures of graduation pics of all the kids but Jeremy graduated after his class so he never had graduation pics done. Well now he is up there on the wall with the rest of his brothers and sister.
I was very happy that they were all here and we made it to the photo place and got all the pictures done with no problems. I thought Aiden was not going to coperate at first but when he realized this was going to be fun he did good. The holiday pics of the whole family, he didn't not smile in a single one of them! Grrrr oh well he smiled for the rest of them.
John and Josh went over to visit Nick's parents last night. Nick's mom asked them if they could make a collage of pictures of Nick. They have been busy with that. Lots of facebooks pics that have Nick in them. I have been teaching them how to add them to our computer and then I send them to CVS to be printed. I love getting my pics that way. I never have to take my camera to the store, I just upload to my computer and then pick the ones I want, and CVS prints them out and I go get them. Wonderful! So the boys have been busy with that. The funeral is Tuesday. There is going to be only the one day. Two hours of viewing before the funeral and then the funeral. I have to take the twins to get some dress pants. They have shirts but no dress pants. I am going to go to the funeral as well but I am going to let the boys go with thier friends. Mark and I will go alone. It will not be a good day and I think they need to be around thier friends.
All the kids stayed after the pictures and I made a big batch of spaghetti for dinner. They all stuffed themselves with that! Manda and Zac are staying the night since Zac has a dr. appointment tomorrow out this way so they will just stay and go to that tomorrow and then home after that. I don't mind, I love having them here. I have to work in the morning. Yuck. I hope there is no more snow tonight to make my drive horrible in the morning!
Well time to do dishes, have a great evening.

As promised....

I really am right back to make another entry as promised! I am sorry that I haven't posted much lately. Things are just a little bit to crazy. I wish it were different.
I feel as if every time I come on to post I only have bad news, I don't like it when it is like that. I hate being a downer but I guess life happens to all of us.
This post is no different, it is gloomy too. I do have some good news though. My girlfriend, Kathy, is doing better. She is still not fully awake and her left arm is still paralyzed but they have seen movement in the left leg. They are weaning her off the sedatives to see how she responds to things. She does realize there are people in the room. She makes movements and her blood pressure goes up when you talk to her or touch her so all of that is very limited. We have to sit quietly. She still has the trach in so she isn't able to talk. They are hoping that by Christmas or the New Year she will be able to talk. Praise the Lord. There is still the worry of infection and things but her progonis is good.
Yesterday morning I was sitting here making the rounds to go everyone's journal and trying to get comments in so people didn't think I had totally forgotten them! I was very happy, one of the twins was home, he came home Thursday night and him (John) and I were going up to Grand Valley to get Josh. Josh's indoor track team had a meet Friday evening and John was going to stay there with Josh for the meet (Josh was not running in this meet he just had to be there for the team) and then the team was having a Christmas party after. I was going to go to Muskegon to stay the night with my girlfriend and then pick the boys up on my way home on Saturday and come home. I went upstairs to wake John up to take a shower so we could get on the road. I was sitting back down here at the computer when John walked into the room. He was crying, he said "Mom, Nick died last night" I think my brain did not want to register what he had just said cuz I just sat there looking at him. I finally said "Nick who?" I know John must of thought I had lost my marbles cuz I know without a doubt who Nick is. He has been one of the twins best friends since we moved here. He was actually the first friend that they made and the first friend to stay the night here with them and them over at his house. Needless to say our plans for the day changed drastically. John and I drove out to Grand Valley. We told Josh. Neither of them wanted to stay for the meet or the party. We spoke to the coach and he told me to take Josh home to be with is friends here. The boys went to a gathering at another friends house last night. They are still upstairs sleeping right now. I don't know how things went last night.
I don't know alot of details about his death. I do know that Nick has had some issues with drugs. He was using perscription drugs but they were not his perscription. He was buying them. John told me on the drive out to GV that he and some other friends of his had decided that they were going to spend alot of time with Nick over Christmas break and get him away from the people that he had been hanging out with who were involved with this drug stuff also. I do know that the man that was supplying the drugs to Nick was arrested yesterday. Nick was at his house when he died of a drug overdose. The man did not call the police, he called Nick's girlfriend who came over and found Nick on the floor but it was to late. Needless to say my twins, along with many of the other kids, his parents and siblings and all his family members, are devastated.
I know Nick was making some bad choices lately. But Nick was a good kid, a very good kid. I also know that he knew the Lord as his Savior and that he is resting with Jesus now.
Please keep Nicks family and friends in your prayers.

Good Morning

Good Morning Everyone, This entry is just a short one. I want to invite you all to a Christmas give away that Betty is having. Go on over to her place and leave a comment and you will be entered to win a prize!

Sorry

I am sorry I haven't posted lately. Things have been rather crazy and a little upsetting. I know that I have posted many times about camping and how much we love it. We have a group of 13 different couples that we camp with. Well I guess they aren't all couples, a few are single people but there are 13 different campers that all camp together, I guess there is like 20 some of us that all go together. Anyways.....one of the couples that camp with us are very good friends of mine. Kathy and Stan. They live in Alma which is very close to Mt. Pleasant, where my son John goes to college. When we have gone to visit John we have gone to see Stan and Kathy also. Stan acutally went with Mark to move John into his dorm when John first moved in. Stan is retired and Kathy is also but she is only 55, Stan is 63. I love this couple, they are so sweet. Kathy had a stroke last Sunday. She had a bleed in her head, they think it had been bleeding for quite some time. The blood had been pooling in her head for awhile and the pressure of the pooled blood finally pushed the vein (the one that was leaking blood) up against her brain and it caused a stroke. Kathy had surgery on Monday after being transfered to a larger hospital in Saginaw. The hospital in Alma was unable to deal with something like this. They had no neurology department. She is doing as well as can be expected but she is still not awake. She is paralyzed on the left side. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. Her grandchildren are just devastated. They spent alot of time with her. One is 15, one is 11 and she has a new little one who is just 4 months old. Right now there is not really a prognosis. She is still alive and has made it through the first week so that is good. They want her to remain still for about another week and then we will see...............It is so difficult to visit her.

Sorry I figured it out.

Well that was fairly easy. All fixed.
I have been so busy since Thanksgiving! Managed to get alot of things done though and that makes me really happy. I really enjoyed having my kids home. I have to say though that I didn't realize how used to "quiet" I have become in just 3 short months. Those two boys can make more noise that I remembered. That and the fact that they seemed totally unable to stop bugging me for more than 5 minutes at a time! LOL! Who am I kidding? I missed it horribly.
Sunday night I had to drive Josh back to Grand Valley. What a horrific deal that was. The roads were sooooo busy. Everyone must of been on thier way back to college or on thier way home from somewhere. The weather certainly was not cooperating either. What would normally take me 3 hours took me 7. When we got to the college, Josh all of sudden looks panicked and realizes he has forgotten his ID and his dorm room key. So we had to find someone to help him get a loaner key and get his stuff in to his room. We also had to figure out how he was going to eat (all thier meals are prepaid with thier tuition and are loaded onto ther ID"S) I left him some money to buy meals with till his ID could be mailed to him. He has it now and all is good.
I had to take Monday off work since I was so long on the trip and didn't make it home till way early in the morning! today I am back to work!
I will make another post later to let you all know about weight watchers.

Where is it?

I am a little confused here. I no longer have buttons to be able to pick what color I want to write in or what kind of font I want? What happened to that?

Your result for The Classic Dames Test...

Myrna Loy

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Quiet Saturday morning

I have no idea what I am doing up this early. Mark's alarm went off at 5am and I woke up when it went off. I got up to make coffee for him because he won't make it himself and I know he likes it so I got it going and was going to go back to bed but didn't. I am still up and online! Guess I must of been done sleeping.
John and I had a marvelous time shopping yesterday. We didn't make it to the stores till a little after 8am. We had to go get something to eat first. Growing boys! Maybe I should say growing men! We went to quite a few different stores and John was able to do all of his shopping yesterday. He is very happy that he is all done and doesn't have to worry about it anymore. He can go back to school and take his finals and then come home and enjoy his Christmas break. Josh didn't want to get up and go so I guess he will have to do his shopping when he comes home for break. I got 90% of my shopping done so I am very pleased. I usually am not this close to done till Christams Eve!!
I was able to come home and get the house a little cleaned up before I had to leave to go get Aiden and Jeremy. Mark and I took Aiden to the Fantasy of Lights parade in downtown Howell last night. They have a 5k race before the start of the parade and John and Josh both ran in it last night. They have run in it every year. This was the first year that I have not run in it. Marks daugther, Kristen marched in the parade with her jr. high school band. Aiden loved the parade. It is a very pretty parade actually. All the floats are covered with Christmas lights. The fire trucks and school buses that are in the parade are totally covered with lights. I took some pictures and I will post some later, I just haven't put them on the computer yet. We went out to eat after the parade and Aiden was being a funny little boy. He cracks me up sometimes. He was taking the croutons off Marks salad and dipping them in the dressing that was on the salad (it was garlic and oil) He would show the crouton to me so I could see how much dressing it had on it before he put it in his mouth. Then he would pop it in his mouth and go "um um um, goooooood!" He was worn out by the time we got home so we just put our "cozies" on. Since the time Aiden was born (well it goes way back to when my kids were babies actually) I have loved the pj's that have feet in them and are fuzzy, warm. I have always called them "cozies" cuz that is what they feel like. I bought Aiden some new ones this week, he had outgrown the ones from last year. He was so excited that he had new ones (with spiderman on them!!!) He had to put them on right away. He told me "OH MY GOD Grandma, these are the best ones!" So he got to put them on and climb in bed and watch Sponge bob. And then he was out.....
And still is!
Today we don't have much planned. We were supposed to be going to a party this afternoon but since Mark has to work I dont think we are going to be able to make it. One of the ladies that is part of our camping group is having back surgery on Monday so they are having a little party at thier house today. I might go over for a little bit by myslef just to say Hi. But that is all that is on the agenda for the day. I hope you all have a wonderful day.








Aiden up on Marks shoulders watch
ing the parade with is sippy cup of hot chocolate!






























Floats from the parade.

Here we are

Well here we are in all our glory!! We are minus my baby, Aiden, he was not with us today but he will be here this weekend and I will take a pic of him. Maybe someone can photoshop them together and make it look like we were all together this day!! I am not that talented so if any one would like to volunteer that would be great.
Top row left to right. Robbie, Jeremy, Mark, Josh and John.
Bottom row left to right. Me, Kristen Manda and Zac.
For new readers who don't know. Mark is my husband, and Kristen is his daugther (my stepdaugther) Manda is my oldest, then Jeremy, Robbie, John and Josh. Zac is my daugthers bf, whom I just love. Manda is 24. Jeremy is 22 (he is my Aiden's dad, Aiden is my only grandbaby and the love of my life) then Robbie 20 and John and Josh 18.
Aiden will be coming out for the weekend tomorrow. I wish he had been with us today but that is a whole long story for another day.
I am going shopping in the morning. I LOVE going out in that mad house. I know I am odd but hey ya gotta love me. My twins are going with me if you can believe that!!!
I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that we all have a wonderful holiday season. IT STARTS NOW!

They are home. I am happy. I went and picked up Josh on Tuesday night and John came home that night as well. I hated leaveing for work this morning. I wanted to spend my time with them but I know them............they would sleep till the time I came home from work, almost! Last night they drove me crazy. I was laying on the couch watching the season finale of Dancing with the Stars and they wanted to wrestle me, tickle me, bug me! UGH, those boys. I love them! I missed them so much.
Today I worked and then Josh was going to the Piston's game tonight with some friends. John went with Mark and I to get a few last mintue things for tomorrow and then we went out to eat. Now that is one of the boys most favorite thing to do!! It was nice getting to spend that time with him. Tonight my daughter and her boyfriend will be here and in the morning my other two sons will come over around noon. We will all go to my MIL's house. We all love going there. Great food, great people. We got very lucky with this family that I married into. They have accepted me and all my children as if we have always been with them. Well it has been 6 years now so we have been around for awhile now but even in the beginning it was great. I am looking forward to the day.
Friday evening John and Josh are running in a race that they do each year. I did not sign up for it this year, it will be the first year that I have not done it since we moved out here. I just don't feel up to racing yet, since the marathon. We are going to watch it though. There is a parade after the race to kick off the holiday season and Mark's daughter, Kristen, is in the marching band and will be marching in the parade. I am not sure what we are doing for the rest of the weekend but whatever it is it will be fun.
I am getting ready to go in the hot tub and relax now. All the food is ready to be cooked in the morning so it is relaxiation time! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Guess where I am going today at 1:00pm?? I am leaving work and driving up to Grand Valley (Grand Rapids area) to get my boy! He is done with classes till Monday morning and I get to bring him home for 5 days. The other one will be home sometime this evening or tomorrow at the latest. Just depends on what time his friends are leaving Central. I am looking forward to seeing them so much and being able to spend some time with the. My daugther, Manda, is really excited too. She misses her brothers and she will get to see them Thursday. I think they are all coming out on the weekend too! I am one happy Mom right now.

Wow

I just finished "my sisters keeper" I was totally not ready for the ending. I really liked this book though. I was reading the covers of her books at Target yesterday and it seems as if alot of them are about subjects that make you think. I am going to have to add some of her books to my Christmas list. Let me know what you thought of this book if you have read it.
I don't know if any of you read "Ma's" journal but she is in need of prayer right now. Her two year old grandson passed away Saturday night. I love reading Ma's journal, she is so upbeat and joyful all the time. My heart is hurting for her right now. Please keep her in your prayers.

Things that made me happy this week.-

Here is one of the things that made me happy this week. John sent a pic of Shannon and him. Seeing pics of my kids always makes me happy. This one was a little disturbing to me since he is growing something on his face that strangely resembles the beginnings of a beard and I know that since he is just a little boy he can't be growing a beard!! Yea my twins are becoming men and it is a bit scary.

My little dog, Maggie, my maltepoo made me very happy this week also. She always does!

Also the fact that I stayed on the program this week, even though I didn't lose, makes me very happy. In time it will come off. Patience.

So there are a few things that made me happy this week.

What made you happy?

I have quite a few of these cookbooks around now. Most of them I just got from the library and copied the ones that sounded good to me. I have to say that tonight's meal was by far the best one that I have made this week. Stuffed cabbage. It was made with ground turkey, garlic, onion, barley, and taco seasoning mix. You boiled the cabbage till the leaves were soft and then put 1/4 of a cup of the meat mixture into a cabbage leaf and rolled it up. Cabbage has no points so you could use as big a piece as you wanted. I just used one leaf and it was a medium sized cabbage. Then you put salsa on top and put them in the oven to bake for about half an hour at 375. They were good. Very good. And you get to eat two of them for just 3 points. We also had aspergus, grilled on the grill with grated parmesan on top, that makes it 1 point. Dinner was good tonight. Mark really liked it too and we both have 2 cabbages for lunch tomorrow.
Mark and I both went in the hot tub after dinner tonight. It was very nice and very relaxing. He knew I was disappointed about the weigh in today and told me that it didn't matter to him if I lost a single pound, he thinks I look awesome no matter what. This coming from a man who fell in love with me when I looked like this...






















Honest that is me. That was taken at a competition I did in July of 2002. How I managed to gain as much weight as I have is beyond me. No that is not true. I realized shortly after I met Mark and we started dating that I wanted to spend time with him more than I wanted to spend my time in the gym working out all day. I honestly didn't think that I would stop completly but I did. No I don't want to go back to that but I do want to be about 120 again. I was 110 in that pic. I just don't feel good, health wise, anymore and know that I need to make sure that I am healthy. That is all I want is to feel healthy again. But I do love my husband more than words can say for telling me how beautiful I am to him no matter what I weigh. He makes me feel better.
I can't leave here tonight without telling Bridget thank you for the comment about the sweater and the time of day weigh in but the best part was about the bathroom!! That is so true! LOL ok I am off to the bathroom. Have good night.

dang it

I was so not happy with my weigh in today. I gained 6 ounces. That sucks. I was so good all week and when I got on my scale this morning it reflected another two pound loss. I almost cried. The lady that was weighing me told me there could be several reasons. One is because I weighed at a different time of day than I have before. I was on afternoons the last two times I went so I weighed in the morning, now today I had to weigh in the evening cuz I was working during the day. I also had on a heavy sweater since it is so cold. Oh well whatever the reason that is the deal. But I am not giving up. I am staying on course. Tonight is Stuffed cabbages made with turkey meat. They are in the oven now and they look yummy. I will be back later.

Jodi Picoult

I had seen so many books by Jodi Picoult in the stores and at the library that I thought I should get one of her books to see how I liked it. I know I was not supposed to get any more books till I finished the ones I already have but..........you didn't really think I could keep that oath did you? So I got My sister's keeper from the library. Has any one read this book. I am on page 110 and I am totally hooked. I am not sure I will sleep tonight. I am not even sure who's side I am on yet. I think Anna's. For sure Anna's but I can understand Sara. Ugh. So difficult. Don't tell me how it ends just tell me if you have read it and what you thought.
I loved the roasted chicken and the spaghetti stuff but I did not like the potato salad, I think it was the cilantro I didn't like but my husband loved it. Tonight was the pork chops with apples and sauerkraut. It was actually very good. Tomorrow is the stuffed cabbage. It uses turket meat. It sounds good and I can't wait to try it. So far my husband thinks weight watchers has awesome food. I do not have the heart to tell him that 3 helpings will not help him to lose weight!!
I weigh in tomorrow. I am nervous because although I have been doing really well I do not feel lighter this week. If not then ok I am not lighter but I will be lots lighter if I just keep it up. right? right!

Hello

I have been so busy the last few days! I finally have a few minutes to sit and relax. Yes doing a journal entry is relaxing for me. Dinner is cooking, it will take about an hour for it to finish so I have a bit of time. I have been looking for weight watchers recipes. I have two of the cookbooks and on Sunday I went through and found the things I wanted to make for this week. I took the list and went grocery shopping Sunday evening. I really have been doing quite well with it so far. I have been writing down everything I eat and keeping track of my points. The dinner last night was really good. I made one of the recipe from the cook book. It was spaghetti bolognese. It was made with wheat pasta, which to me didn't taste any different than regular pasta. You made the sauce with lean ground beef, garlic, onion, diced tomatos, a little bit of tomato paste, oregano, basil, mushrooms and salt and pepper. It was really good! Mark and Kristen got 2nds. I didn't, I stayed within the correct amount for my points. I did have lots of salad though. Tonight I am making a lemon pepper roasted chicken with tex mex sweet and red potato salad. The potato salad is done, I am just waiting on the chicken. We are also having aspergus with it. I can't wait to see how the potato salad is. It has red potatos, sweet potatos, cilantro, fat free mayo, onions, lemon zest, corriander, cumin and salt in it. It looks good. I have been finding really good things for the rest of the day too. Today I had grapefruit and yogurt for breakfast, at lunch I had Progresso Pot Roast soup and a huge salad. I have been using those spritzer dressings. They only have 10 calories for 10 sprays and that equals no points. I never even have to use all those sprays either. 5 seems to be plenty. I also bought some of those yummy little bars that are made by weight watchers that have either one or two points and if I get hungry for something sweet I can eat one of those. They really are good too. I have this whole weeks menu planned out but I will tell you about them after I eat them so I can tell you if it was good or not. So far I am liking the recipes I have tried.
I am getting really excited about next week. John is getting a ride home with friends and I am going to pick Josh up on Tuesday night. I can't wait to see them. I am so excited for my whole family to be together on Thanksgiving day! It has been months since I have had every one under one roof at one time! I love having them all together. We are having dinner over my in-laws like we always do. The twins love going over there cuz they love Grandma Lawrence's pumpkin pie! Oh yea they love her ham rolls too! I love those things too. I wonder how many points those little buggers have in them??
Well I need to go check on the chicken. Have a great night.

I have a book that I read each day. It has little daily stories in it and I loved the one for today so much that I had to call my husband and read it to him. I know I have spoken about my obsession in my blog before so I wanted to share this here also. I swear this sounds like my home.

"Books furnish a room" my wife is fond of saying. A good thing too, because our home threatens to be buried in books. We've got them furnishing every room: the hard covers in the dining room, the paperbacks in the TV room, the books that we intend to read on the floor by our beds, the books that we've read and intend to lend to friends on the cabinet. Every time we get a new shelf, it seems to fill up. First the books fill out rows, then get stacked in double rows and then we start laying books horizontally on top. The only hope for us is our neighborhood's annual book fair. With plesasure, I deliver bags full of used book, all for a worthy cause.

For a couple of days our shelves look neater, our floors have more space on them, the house seems to have a little more air. Then comes the actual day of the book fair. Carol stop by, "just to see what's there." I drop in, "just to check on the prices and maybe run into an old friend." Almost by accident I start looking down the row of books and spot many old friends....and new friends. We don't have a copy of that , i think. Isn't that a nice addition? Haven't I always wanted to read that?

Surreptitiously, quietly, Carol and I gather books-bargins, I tell you, fabulous finds- adn we bring them home, sheepishly, apologetically. They start the journey from bedside table to shelf..............and eventually to next years book fair bag.

Did I tell you all that Mark bought me a new book shelf for my birthday??? Seriously!

Yeah!

I lost 2.6!!!

Good Morning, and yes it is a good morning. I am feeling much better this morning. No thanks to my job though. I said I was only going to go in for the meeting and then find my way back home and go to bed. That didn't happen. I ended up being there for 11 hours. I didn't leave work until 10pm. It was so busy there and I just didn't feel right leaving until I knew that things were under control. I did go right to bed when I got home. I didn't get up until after 9 this morning so I got over 8 hours of sleep. I guess it is what was needed. I feel great this morning.
Today is my weigh in at Weight Watchers. Kinda nervous about that. I am thinking if I lost weight it will be due to being sick and if I didn't lose weight I am going to be upset since I was so sick! I can't win with this mind of mine!
We have Aiden this weekend so I am looking forward to that. I always love having him over. I need to take him to get him some new clothes this weekend. He has lots of summer clothes here but not much winter and he needs the winter clothes now. So I guess it will be off to the mall with us. Well the mall might not be such a good idea, he gets bored quickly so we might just have to go to JC Penny's. Well time to go shower and go to WW. Have a great day.

What a lunch....

Well we had a wonderful time at the lunch. I stopped and picked up our order and took it to the hospital and we ate in the break room. (they are not allowed to leave for lunch, scrubs, sterile, that fun stuff ya know) I really enjoyed myself and it was really good to see them. I went on to work a very happy camper. On my drive home from work though I didn't feel so good. All through the night I was VERY sick. I was up and down out of bed and into the bathroom more times than I care to count. Yesterday morning was just as bad. I finally fell asleep around 11:00am and slept until 6:00pm. I got up to have a piece of toast and some scrambled eggs that my hubby made for me. I fell right back asleep. I didn't get up until this morning. I feel like a truck ran me over about 100 times. No more throwing up though. I called Sue and Jen to see if they had been sick also. Jen had indeed been sick also. And yes she ate the same thing I did. Suzanne did not get sick and yes she did eat the same thing. Lucky little snot that she is! I have to go to work for a meeting today. So I am dragging myself into the shower and taking some tylenol for my aching body and going in for at least that meeting. Wish me luck. Have a great day.

Up early

I really do not want to be awake right now. I will be going back to bed in a little bit. I have to take Kristen to school and then I will go lay back down for a little bit. I just could not go back to sleep this morning when Mark got up for work. The alarm woke me up and I was up at that point. Hopefully when I go lay back down I will be able to fall asleep or I will be very tired when I get out of work tonight.
I am going to have lunch with my friends from my old job today. That should be alot of fun. I haven't seen them in awhile and I really do miss them. I worked there for 25 years and I had been working with the ones I am having lunch with for the last 8 years. It was a hard transition to make but I do enjoy working at my new job. I have been there for a year now. Actually it will be a year tomorrow! Everyone always asks me why I left my job after 25 years there. There were several reasons. 1. It was a 12,000 a year raise. 2 When I married Mark I moved into his house which is 40 miles away from my old job ( my old house was 5 minutes from my job!) 3. There was no opportunity for me to advance any farther at my old job. My new job is only 20 miles from my home so it cut my drive time in half. It was a tough decision but I am happy with it.
Yesterday Kristen and I went to the library and I got a Weight Watchers cookbook. I had seen it at Target but it was $26 so I went to the library and checked it out and I will copy the recipes that I like. There are alot of recipes in it. We never did get to grocery shop yesterday which is actually a good thing. Now I will be able to make my grocery list from the recipes I like in the cookbook. I will plan out my menu for the week and shop accordingly. That way I won't be starving and not know what to eat. It will all be there and I will know the points value for everything. The recipes look really good and I think that Mark and Kristen would eat most of the things they have for dinners in the cookbook. That will be very helpful so I don't have to make something different for them.
Well it is time to take Kristen to school so I am off to do that and then take a little nap before I go out to lunch. Have a great day.

Points

So my weight watchers points are gone for the day and I am hungry so I need to go to bed so I don't think about eating. Is this normal???

Sunday morning

I just love this boy! He is so cute. This is from his birthday party. He kept wanting to stick his finger in there and eat the frosting. (yea I let him)
I don't have anything much planned for the day. I am going to be going to church in just a bit and I need to get to the grocery store at some point today but other than that I have no plans. I think that it might be a good day to just stay in and watch movies. It is cold outside. Mark said that he heard we might get snow. Yuck. Not ready for that.
I also need to call my MIL to find out about Thanksgiving. We usually go to her house for dinner. My sister got a divorce this year and her and my nephew would like to have dinner with us. I would LOVE to have dinner with them. My daughter also has a bf this year (and I really really like him!!) so he will be with us for dinner this year also. So I just need to find out if my MIL would like more people there or if Mark and I are going to be doing dinner here this year. So I need to figure that out before everyone starts buying food.
Well I need to get dressed for church so I better get off here. Have a great day.

Prayers for Donna

I have no idea on this new blogger how to link to another journal but for all of you that read D's Designs, (Donna), she has had a heart attack and she had triple bypass. She is at her parents recovering. I have gotten this information from other journals, not from Donna herself. Please keep her in her prayers, she is a very special person.

I am really liking the deal that I have made with myself to get the sleep that I need. I have gotten at least 8 hours of sleep each night since Wednesday. Since I am on afternoons I have been able to sleep in in the mornings which makes it easier and I have just let myself sleep till I have felt like waking up. Thursday and Friday I woke up around 9:30. That was 9 hours and this morning I woke up at 7 and that was 8 hours. I feel great. Robbie took me out to eat this morning for my birthday . That was nice. Tonight Mark is taking me out to eat also. I have lots of flowers that I have been given also. Mark said it is starting to smell like a funeral home in our house. I have four different arrangements of flowers! I love flowers. Kristen also got me a really nice pair of pjs! I love them . Today I am going for my massage and having my hair done for going out tonight. I love having my hair straight but it is so curly I have a hard time blowing drying it that way so I treat myslef sometimes and have it blown out straight. Today is one of those days.
I also went to Weight Watchers and paid my money for that. I start tomorrow. I will weigh in on Saturdays. I had to go in and pay though cuz I knew i would spend the money I had set aside for that if I didn't do it!! I am very excited about it. I am also very ready for it.
I got my little meez up! I think she is so cute, thank you Beth for helping me with that. Well I am off to get my massage. Have a wonderful day.

help!

Can anyone tell me how I put my "mini me" on my journal?

this is what it said

This is me five years ago. I am amazed at the difference in myself in those five years. I felt really good then. (Health wise) I still feel good about me, I just have alot of issues with feeling good. I am tired all the time and my joints ache alot. I wanted to blame it all on the running, but I ran then too. I went to the doc this past week to find out if there is something physically wrong with me. All the blood tests came back fine. I also have high cholesterol. She wants that down. We talked about some things.....diet, exercise...sleep. The only one I can say I am good at is the exercise. And the only exercise I really do is running. So I am going to see if I can change some things in my life and see if that makes me feel better. I don't want to be on meds for the high cholesterol so I want to get it down naturally. So I am going on a Linda make over. Today in about an hour I am going for my first weight wathcers meeting (thanks bridgett, your an inspriation!) I am also setting up a gym plan for myself. I do belong to one. I do pay the dues for it each and every month but I don't go! Last week I went three times to get myself started and this week.......well I fizzled out I guess. But that is going to change. I am on a mission now. I have made "goals" for myself and I have made rewards for hitting those goals. None of them have to do with food, they are all rewards like, nails done, massage, tanning. These are all things I really enjoy but never do for myself. I am also going to try to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night. I currently only get around 5-6. That just isn't enough (I wonder why I am tried??) Tomorrow morning I will be at the gym bright and early (right after my 7 hours of sleep!) and I will be on weight watchers. What better birthday present could I give to myself then an healthier, feeling better me????ps. I found my camera, under a pile of clothes that should of been put away long ago but I just haven't wanted to pack away those summer clothes, so they sat there and today I packed them up and found my camera at the bottom!! I will get the tiffany medal necklace pic up for you soon!Have a great day

No idea

I have no idea why the post is all symbols. I am seeing if this one does the same thing. I know that it was normal when I posted it.

Time for change

This is me five years ago. I am amazed at the difference in myself in those five years. I felt really good then. (Health wise) I still feel good about me, I just have alot of issues with feeling good. I am tired all the time and my joints ache alot. I wanted to blame it all on the running, but I ran then too. I went to the doc this past week to find out if there is something physically wrong with me. All the blood tests came back fine. I also have high cholesterol. She wants that down. We talked about some things.....diet, exercise...sleep. The only one I can say I am good at is the exercise. And the only exercise I really do is running. So I am going to see if I can change some things in my life and see if that makes me feel better. I don't want to be on meds for the high cholesterol so I want to get it down naturally. So I am going on a Linda make over. Today in about an hour I am going for my first weight wathcers meeting (thanks bridgett, your an inspriation!) I am also setting up a gym plan for myself. I do belong to one. I do pay the dues for it each and every month but I don't go! Last week I went three times to get myself started and this week.......well I fizzled out I guess. But that is going to change. I am on a mission now. I have made "goals" for myself and I have made rewards for hitting those goals. None of them have to do with food, they are all rewards like, nails done, massage, tanning. These are all things I really enjoy but never do for myself. I am also going to try to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night. I currently only get around 5-6. That just isn't enough (I wonder why I am tried??) Tomorrow morning I will be at the gym bright and early (right after my 7 hours of sleep!) and I will be on weight watchers. What better birthday present could I give to myself then an healthier, feeling better me????

ps. I found my camera, under a pile of clothes that should of been put away long ago but I just haven't wanted to pack away those summer clothes, so they sat there and today I packed them up and found my camera at the bottom!! I will get the tiffany medal necklace pic up for you soon!
Have a great day

Tiffinany

I was seriously so excited about finding this backgroud! My necklace (medal)from the marathon came in a little bag just like that one the girl is holding. And of course the little green box too! I would put a picture of it up there but you all know that at the moment I can't find my camera. I wish I could find it but I have a feeling it was stolen out of my truck. I can picute it sitting there, in the cup holder of the truck, after I took the pictures of Josh at the cross country meet and poof now I can't find it. Say a little prayer that that is not what happened to it please.

President Obama!!! What an awesome speech that was!

Off to go vote.

This is a picture of my son, Robbie and my grandson, Aiden. It was taken in March of this year, right before the lake thawed. Robbie is 20 and this is the first year that he can vote and he is VERY excited about it. He has been online each day reading about the canidates and what they stand for. He is also into finding out about all the proposals. Robbie called me at 11:00 last night to ask me if I knew anything about one of the canidates stance on being gay. He said that if this canidate were elected that all gays would be put into mental institues. I was trying to explain to him that I didn't think he was reading something right. That I didn't think that the canidate said those exact words and that he needed to find out a little bit more about it. Then he was asking me a bunch of questions about the proposals. One of them was about stem cell research. He wanted to know if babies were deliberatly aborted just so they could use the umbilical cord. No Rob I don't think they abort babies just to get the cord. So he tells me that he can't vote for that one cuz he doesn't believe in abortion. I don't think he got that one completely. But I told him to go find out more information. Then back we went to the mental institution thing. Don't worry Rob, Mom won't let them put you away for years. Well at least not for being gay, but maybe for driving me crazy!!!

Ah my twins............I miss them so much. It is funny to look at this picture because you can really see how much thinner than John, Josh has become. Josh has found out that running in college is not as easy as running in high school. Lots more miles and alot tougher work outs. But he LOVES it. The two of them always seem to be able to spend at least one day on the weekends together. I don't know of one single weekend since they have been gone that they have not seen each other for at least a little bit. But they hate each other. Um yeah right. I don't buy it, do you?
I am totally unable to sleep. I just got home from work a little bit ago. Everyone else is already in bed and I am up alone. I just poured myself a glass of wine (why yes it is sangria) and I am hoping that is going to relax me quickly so that I will be wanting to go to sleep soon. Mark will be up and gone before I get up that is for sure. I won't be seeing much of him for the next few weeks while I am on afternoons. That is sad. I guess we will have to make plans for the weekends. Well he better be making some plans for this weekend since Friday is my birthday and I will be working afternoons that day, so the weekend will be the days that we have to celebrate. I will be 45 this year and I am not liking that so much.
I also am not liking the way I eat either. As you all know I run. I train for and run marathons. You would think that I would be thin. But no not me. I have to eat eat eat. I like food. I like foods that are not good for me. Like fast food. I love fast food. All of it. I eat it way to much. I also love things like mashed potatos, pastas, anything with gravy on it. Yummy. But the weight I have managed to gain is not good. So I am going to make some changes. I am not going on a diet. I am just going to make some changes. I am also going to get on a scale. Did I just say that?? Yea I am going to get on a scale and I am going to hold myself accountable. Or maybe you all should hold me accountable since I am not so good at it myself. I need to set some goals for myself and stick to them so that I can lose this extra weight. The dr. is not going to be happy with me in Feb. if I go back in there for my yearly physical weighing more than I did when I went in this past Feb. She had already told me at that appt. that I needed to lose. So I have just a few months to lose some weight. So how are you all going to hold me accountable???
We had a storm here last night that was amazing. I have never in my life heard thunder like the thunder I heard last night. It woke me up. I also realized at that point that we had no power so we had to set our cell phones so that Mark would get up for work. Set the alarms on the cell phone that is. While Mark was getting ready for work the power came back on so it wasn't out that long. But I did get up and out of bed at that time (5:00am) so I should be very tired now. I have finished my glass of sangria so I think I will go lay down and see if sleep comes. Have a good one!

Just for the day!

I just came across this background this evening and I couldn't resist putting it up just for the night and for tomorrow!

Well it is Monday morning and I am glad of it! My weekend was busy, I am glad to have a little rest! I thought weekends were for resting? Not this past one that is for sure.
I felt somewhat better on Friday morning. I went into work and stayed the whole day. After work I went to get Jeremy and Aiden. Aiden's costume was "Diego" and he didn't want to wear it. It was crabby when we first picked him up. I told him he didn't have to wear it if he didn't want and that quieted him down while we drove over to the neighbor hood that we used to live in. (We do not get any trick or treaters here at our new house, the houses are to far apart and the kids don't come down this street) We met my daughter (manda) and her boyfriend, Zac. We met at my girlfriends house. When Aiden saw all the kids dressed up and going up to the houses he decided that he was going to put his costume on and go get some candy. He got ALOT of candy. He was quite happy after he got the hang of what was going on. I am having a major issue, I can't find my camera. This really bums me out. I know the last time I had it was last Saturday when I went out to Grand Rapids to watch Josh run his race. I took pictures of him there. I remember seeing it sitting in the cup holder of Big Blue but now it is no where to be found. So I was unable to take pictures of anything this weekend. My daughter took alot but I have to wait for her to put them online and then I can get them.
Saturday we had Aiden's birthday party. I was running around all morning getting things ready for that. Aiden had such a good time. His cake was awesome. It was (of course) a Diego cake. It tasted even better than it looked! We had sloppy joes, antipasta salad and bread sticks. Cake and ice cream and snackages also! Aiden got lots of nice gifts. He didn't want to open his presents though. He acted like he was scared. But just like with the trick or treating, once he realized what was going on he was opening them like a pro. My sister and my nephew stayed the night and Kathy and I sat in the hot tub for over an hour, just talking and having some wine. It was a very pleasant evening.
Sunday was the work day. We brought the camper home from the camp ground. We worked all day on getting it cleaned out and washed up. The camper is all empty and the outside is all clean. I still have some cleaning to do on the inside, which I will get done this week. We will be taking it to my brother in laws house as soon as it is done to store for the winter. He has a camper also and we camp with them all summer. He has alot of land and they (my husband and him) made a spot where the two campers can be put on for the winter. It is almost like a really wide driveway, a big cement slab! So hopefully I will be done with that soon so we can get it over there and covered before the snow flies!
I am working afternoons for the next few weeks. The afternoon supervisor is having surgery this week and I need to cover the shift. I don't mind. They are a great crew and fun to work with. The change in time makes it go by faster also. As long as I don't have to do it for to long.
I will try to get some pictures from Manda and get them on here for you all to see. Have a great day.

I have been home sick all day. Yuck. I do not like being sick, as if anyone does. I have been in my bed watching tv under the electric blanket for most of the day. I feel a little better althogh my throat still hurts! I would love some chicken soup but I don't have any here in the house and I am not going to get dressed to go out and get some! I am hoping that I feel much better tomorrow. I am covering for one of the other supervisors tomorrow so I don't have much choice, I have to go in. I will just have to take some tylenol cold and flu with me and suffer through the day if I feel bad.
Tomorrow is Halloween and we have Aiden this weekend so I really want to be feeling good tomorrow so I can go with Jeremy to take him trick or treating! He picked out a Diego costume. He loves Diego. Saturday is his birthday party. He was asking me on the phone to name all the people that were coming to his party so I was naming everyone and he said "wow gramma, all those people just for Aiden?" LOL the kid cracks me up. I can't wait to see him I haven't seen him in over two weeks since we were in San Franciso the last weekend that Jeremy had him. I miss him!
The camper is going to be coming home on Monday or Tuesday. We will have to clean it out and get it ready for winter storage. How sad. I will be looking forward to April when it can be pulled back out and used again. I love warm weather and I am not looking forward to the winter. I hate getting up in the morning and going outside in that cold air and driving to work. I bettet stop thinking about it!
Well it is almost time for Greys to come on so I better go get back under the electric blanket and get ready. Have a good day.

After much debate, Nike ended up giving the win to both of the runners. They were really going to give it to the "elite" runner but there was such an uproar about it they ended up giving it to both. There was no money involved in this event, the winners got tiffany bowls so I guess that made the decision a little easier. I guess there was something like this that happened in the Chicago marathon this year also. I don't know the details so I am going to investigate it. I think that fastest chip time should win, why else do they make you pay for the chip?? It costs $30 for that chip, if it is going to go to the first to cross the line (if everyone starts at the same time then this isn't an issue) then we don't need a chip!! I sure as heck wish I could go out and run a 2:55 marathon the first time I ran one!! GO GIRL!

Interesting....

I was just reading on line about the discrepancy in the winner of the marathon that I just ran. This is what happened. The "elite" runners start 20 minutes before the rest of the runners start. (us slow regular ones!) The elites started at 6:40am and the rest of us started at 7:00am. Sometimes it takes half an hour to get all the runners across the start line. The clock starts right at the gun shot at 7am but the chip on your shoe does not start until you cross the finish line. So your acutal run time may not be the same as what the clock says, depending on how long it takes you to get to the start line. Did that make any sense? I hope so.

Well anyways, the first woman to cross the finish line was one of the elites and her time was 3 hours and 6 minutes. Now one of the regular runners who started 20 minutes later completed the marathon in 2 hours and 55 minutes. Although the elite runner crossed the line first because she started 20 minutes earlier, the other girl finished in a faster time. Who do you think they made the winner of the marathon??

The marathon

The weather on the day of the marathon was nothing less than perfect. (for a marathon at least!) I am sure the spectators did not think it was perfect. We had to park at AT&T park and take a shuttle over to Union Square where the start was. We got there very early and it wasn't that crowded when we first were there but that changed very quickly. There were 20,000 running this marathon. Mostly women, since it was the Nike Women's Marathon, but there were men who ran it. The marathon benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society so alot of the men that were running it have had loved ones who have had blood cancers and they were running in honor or in memory of that person.
It was quite chilly out at 7am. I ran with a sweat shirt on for the first 3 miles. Brenda had one on also. We had to take them off at mile 3 and we hid them in a newspaper box and called our husbands (who were together) to come get them out of it! I am amazed the found them, but they did! This picture of Brenda and I at the starting line is dark but you can see us. Brenda has a garbage bag over her. It keeps you very warm.
There were lots of hills in this marathon that is for sure. Someone had told me before I went that it wasn't that bad since most of the race is along the ocean. They lied. It was TOUGH! Mile 6 to mile 7 was literally one long continious hill. I thought I was going to die right then and there. Going down it was great though! Brenda only ran the half marathon so for the last half of the marathon I was on my own. It wasn't to bad. The sceanery was awesome there. Crossing that finsh line was heaven though.
When you cross the finish line there are men in tuxes (they are all San Francisco fire men) who have little green tiffinany boxes on platters. Inside those little tiffinany boxes is your tiffinany necklace, which is your medal for finishing the marathon. I will have to take a picture of mine to show you all how pretty it is. It was worth it!

I want to say a special thank you to all of you that supported me during this marathon. You may have donated money, you may have said encouraging words, you may have said prayers for me. Whatever it was it was greatly appreciated! I haven't decided which one I am doing next or if it is going to be a half or a whole marathon but I WILL be doing another one! That was number 5 and my goal is to finish 10 events for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
But for right now I am just enjoying the days of no running, just recovering!