The Secret To My Success?

Maybe it was the sticky notes

I have really had a pretty easy time of it I think. I read a lot of the posts in the forums on the quit for life web site and think how much easier it has been for me. I am not sure why but I am grateful. I know part of it is that if I set my mind to do something I do it. I plan and create a process that I stick to no matter what. The process for this was simple. I had seven days to ween myself off of nicotine so that when I hit my quit date I was only dealing with the behavioral and emotional part of the addiction. I used the sticky notes program on my netbook to keep track of my smoking each day in addition to the tools on the web site.

 The sticky notes appealed to me because they were right there every time I was on my computer. As far as cutting back on my smoking each day I found I nice little thought process that helped a lot. Every time I would reach for a cigarette I would ask myself if I really needed the nicotine or if it was just what I was used to doing right then. If I thought about it and decided I didn't really need to smoke I didn't. There was really no pressure because I knew if I really felt I needed it I could smoke. I found as the days went on I needed them less and less. As you can see from the picture of my netbook screen it happened pretty fast. I had actually quit two days early. This brought up another thought. If I was able to quit on the dosage of Chantix that I was currently taking then what was the point of increasing the dose on the eighth? I decided not to. On the eighth when I got to the 1mg pills I got out my pill splitter and split them in half so that I could stay at 1mg a day. This is not to say that I never think about smoking because I do. It just doesn't really get to me because I know that when it comes right down to it I don't really want to. The thought passes rather quickly and I move on just fine.


I think the next use for my sticky notes will have to be to help me keep track of my new diet. changes to my eating habits. Turns out that while I have done very well on the blood sugar thing I have now been dealt the family cholesterol card. I now get the challenge of kicking the fast food habit and learning to eat low fat/cholesterol foods. So, time to set my mind to it, make a plan, create a process and stick to it no matter what. 

Call Me A Quitter (It's a compliment)

Most of you know that I have been working toward healthier living. I changed my eating habits to keep my blood sugar stable and in doing so I lost a lot of weight. I knew there was only one more big change to make and last fall I decided I was ready..... well ready to think about quitting anyway.

I work in retail. In my mind it would be stupid to try to quit smoking right when the busiest, most stressful part of the year was just beginning. I would quit after the holidays. Along comes January. Well I couldn't quit in January. That would be like making a new years resolution and everyone knows new years resolutions don't work. By the time March rolled around I knew I was out of excuses. It was time to get serious. I actually wrote down the information hanging on the wall in the break room about the quit for life program on a postit and stuck it to my computer monitor.  https://www.quitnow.net/Program/  

I think it was the beginning of April when I first went online to see what the program entailed. I got a little freaked out and went out for a cigarette. It took another week before I actually signed up. Turns out it wasn't so scary after all. (I did have to smoke while I waited for a call from my quit coach.) My quit coach asked me some questions and gave me some info to help me start my quit plan. We set a tentative quit date of May 1st. The actual quit date would be determined by when I started my Chantix because you can smoke during the first seven days while it builds up in your system.

I had my Dr. appointment on Thursday. She wrote me a prescription and I figured I would fill it on Friday. I knew I needed to wait until my direct deposit had gone in because I was not sure how much this was going to cost me. I found out on Friday that this will cost me $85 a month. No problem I spend about $90 a month on cigarettes so I will save five dollars a month. The pharmacy didn't have any Chantix on hand though so that meant I  could not pick it up until today.

  I was so excited to finally have my prescription that I had to take a picture of it. I take the first pill in the morning. That means my official quit date is May 8, 2012

Where's my Windows Live Writer?

I am loving my new netbook but I can't seem to figure out how to get Windows Live Writer on it. Now that it is so much more convenient to be on the computer I am hoping to share a little more of what is on my mind. I know that it has been a long time since I last blogged. One might suggest that is an indicator of an empty mind. The reality is a lot of frustration due to an over loaded brain and a couple of teenagers always on my desktop.

Oh My Yummy!!! (and tarter sauce)

I went to my parent’s house on Saturday. I was awake early and since I had been away so long I just decided to go. It was a fun surprise for my Mom and Dad. After hanging out for a bit we went out to lunch. Dad and I got a great fish and chips. (My chips were sweet potato) We both ate half of our lunch and brought the rest home to save for dinner. This is where the trouble began. They had no tartar sauce.

Heather and her family had left to go to a Birthday party at a friends and we were watching the first Harry Potter movie on Disney Channel (they were so tiny) Toward the end of the movie was when I began having a terrible craving for something cakey. I happened to mention this aloud so my Mom (being a bad influence) suggested we go to La Cupcake. We didn’t want my dad to feel bad that we were going without him so we used the need for tartar sauce as our excuse to go out.

At La Cupcake we tried their signature cheesecake brownie cupcake and the pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting. By getting one of each we were able to cut them in half and then we each got to taste both. The cheese cake one was ok but really didn’t fulfill the cakey craving. The Pumpkin one however was exactly what I was after. It tasted great and the whole time I was eating it I kept thinking “I have got to find a way to make this legal.”

That was my mission for today. Well, that and laundry. I spent most of my day on the internet. I knew there had to be a good pumpkin cupcake that was low sugar, low fat and lactose free. I also needed a cream cheese frosting that met the same requirements.

By altering a couple of recipes I came up with something that in my opinion was way better than the one I had on Saturday.

Sugar-Free Pumpkin cupcakes

• 4 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups Splenda
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, Splenda, oil, apple sauce and pumpkin with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture until thoroughly combined.
• Spray cupcake pan with non-stick cooking spray or use paper cup liners. Fill the cups a little more that ¾ full. Bake for 15-20 min.

Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 (8oz) package Tofutti milk free better than cream cheese
1 (8oz) tub Cool Whip Free Whipped Topping
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add Cool Whip, Splenda, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Makes 12 servings

In order to keep it lactose free I went with the Cool Whip. Unfortunately that meant some corn syrup. Considering the amount of protein in the recipe vs. sugar I decided the little bit of corn syrup was probably ok. This way my Dad can eat it too.

With the major success on creating such a wonderful tasting cupcake. (I could hardly keep the kids out of them long enough to take pictures.) I will definitely be making them for Thanksgiving.

And to think it all started with tartar sauce.

A Sweet Success

Blueberries with Lemon Cream

 

Serves: 4

Total Time: 10 min

 

 

 

Ingredients

· 4 ounce(s) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)

· 3/4 cup(s) low-fat vanilla yogurt

· 1 teaspoon(s) honey

· 2 teaspoon(s) freshly grated lemon zest

· 2 cup(s) fresh blueberries

Directions

1. Using a fork, break up cream cheese in a medium bowl. Drain off any liquid from the yogurt; add yogurt to the bowl along with honey. Using an electric mixer, beat at high speed until light and creamy. Stir in lemon zest.

2. Layer the lemon cream and blueberries in dessert dishes or wineglasses. If not serving immediately, cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

 

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/blueberries-lemon-cream-recipe-5726

Round Table at the not so round table

We had a family meeting and decided that “round table at the not so round table” was the perfect name for it. Just crazy enough to fit our crazy family. We discussed our new plan for eating healthy and how and where to look for recipes. We will be putting together a family cook book with the recipes that we like. Chicken feta salad will be our first entry.

Melaina thought this should be called “OMG! Mom can prepare food!” It is a variation on the recipe that I posted in my last entry.

Chicken Feta Salad

• Organics spring mix
• Del Monte no sugar added Mandarin oranges (snack pack. one was just the right amount)
• half can pitted black olives (I cut the olives in half because I hate when my food rolls away from my fork)
• crumbled feta cheese (I think i used about a cup of this)
• dry roasted pistachio kernels with sea salt (I used about a cup)
• canned chicken (one can)
• red wine and olive oil vinaigrette dressing

Obviously I didn’t use any measuring cups so amounts are just a guess. It tasted amazing and Jeremy was happy to find that salad actually filled him.

The kids are now in on the other computers looking for recipes for their nights to cook. Melaina gets to find some fish recipes because Jeremy has requested fish Fridays. They all seem pretty excited about the idea of eating better. Well except Ashton but at least he won’t be standing in the kitchen saying he can’t think of anything to cook because I am now making them plan ahead so we can make sure we have the proper ingredients.

Eating Healthy

Melaina has been complaining she wants healthy food. Jeremy has already begun to cut carbs. My Mom and Dad have been doing great on changing the way they eat. I think it is time I do the same.

I have started with the most difficult and the most regularly consumed item in my daily routine. I quit the Dr. Pepper. That meant giving up caffeine as well cause I don’t do coffee. I’m not stressing on the caffeine thing really. If I have a cup of tea fine. I just really needed to eliminate the high fructose corn syrup that is a main ingredient in soda. I can’t switch to diet because aspartame and I have never gotten along.

Now obviously this is going a long way toward controlling my hypoglycemia and will help put off the inevitable diabetes. I am however aware that there has got to be more to do. For instance I need to get rid of the simple carbohydrates and replace them with complex carbohydrates.  No more processed foods and I should eat more fish and chicken. At least salt is not a huge issue for me. quite frankly I don’t really like it and never add it to my foods. I actually prefer the natural taste of things.

So, here is the stumbling block I have just come too in starting this new food adventure. I have to learn to plan meals and shop accordingly. I need to find good healthy recipes that are not too overwhelming for someone who has always hated to cook. I may find after awhile that some recipes that scare me now will be no big deal in the future.

Basically I have all these great ideas and a bit of knowledge about what I can and can’t have but no clue on how to put them together or how to start.

Focus on the positive! Water doesn’t taste so bad after all. An apple makes a great desert. White cheese is better than yellow and I LOVE feta cheese.

Oh think I found something good: Butter Lettuce Salad With Feta, Mandarin Oranges and Kalamata Olives Recipe by Jennifer Meier

Butter Lettuce Salad With Feta, Mandarin Oranges and Kalamata Olives

Photo by Jennifer Meier

This salad is light and refreshing. The salty but mild Feta pairs well with the Kalamata olives and is a tasty contrast to the oranges.

Butter Lettuce Salad With Feta, Mandarin Oranges and Kalamata Olives serves 2-3

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 head butter lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 2/3 cups shelled, unsalted pistachios (either raw or roasted)
• 1/4 lb. Feta, crumbled
• 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• 2 Mandarin oranges, peeled and separated into wedges
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Preparation:

In a bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, salt and cumin together until well mixed

In a large salad bowl, toss the lettuce with pistachios, Feta, olives and orange wedges. Drizzle the dressing on top. Toss again and serve.

Excited over a Vacuum

Most of you know that I have five black cats and two dogs. So finding a vacuum that will handle that much pet hair has been a constant battle. I love my pets but I simply cannot stand pet hair everywhere.

Recently Melaina has been on this weird lets watch info mercials kick. Which resulted in me watching the “Shark Navigator” commercial. I admit I was totally sucked in. (lol no pun intended)

I am a bit of of a skeptic when it comes to someone trying to sell me something. Especially on TV. I am always watching for those little tricks. Like before and after shots where the lighting is clearly better and they’re wearing makeup in the after shot. Or the vacuum is used and looks amazing then they move to the next set up and if you look the canister is totally clean so it clearly is a different  vacuum.

Some of the selling points of the “Navigator” are: never loses suction, light weight and easy to maneuver, pet hair removal attachment for furniture and a longer crevice tool for less bending over. Obviously what caught my attention was the never loses suction and pet hair attachment. I watched very closely for those little tricks and was pleasantly surprised to see that they did not switch out vacuums between messes. Needless to say I ordered one.

Today it arrived and I immediately put it to the test. I vacuumed the entire living room and when I saw that the canister was full I went to the one place in my house that almost never gets vacuumed. The carpet under Jeremy’s desk was black. It is supposed to be light blue. This area makes the examples on TV look like nothing. I went in nice and slow and came out on the same line. IT WAS BLUE!!! I have never had so much fun vacuuming in my entire life.

Well that was a chore

I got to thinking today that I had not written anything in seven months and people may begin to think that there is nothing on my mind. So I took a moment to scroll through some of my older posts. Much to my dismay many of them no longer had any pictures. I realized of coarse that they had been linked to my msn spaces and that is no longer in existence. Consequently I just spent the last couple of hours pulling up each entry on writer to delete the box with an X in it and replace it with a picture linked back to my photo bucket albums. Oh and did i mention searching through my photos on my computer to upload the ones that were not on photo bucket yet? Having finally finished all of that I completely forgot what I was going to say in the first place.

Spring Fever

So, Earth Day was last Wednesday and I celebrated it by laying in bed with a migraine and sleeping with the TV on. Not really the best way to help the planet. So yesterday after work I felt all inspired to do something.

We have had this three tier corner thing sitting next to our front porch for about a year now with Jeremy’s chives and a few empty pots. I really wanted to get a few more pots and some flowers to put on it. I thought it would be pretty and then that thing would look on purpose and not like we just had nowhere else to put it.

By the time I had all the pots in place Julian had brought my big blue pot from the back yard for me and put it on the corner of the porch. I stood there admiring my work and feeling like something was missing. I needed something to hang from the two hooks that I had taken the jack-o-lanterns off of. While that was still bothering me I went to get my wind chime to hang in the upper part of the V posts. While I was setting up the ladder I hung it on the hook so I could use two hand and Ashton said that he liked it there. Well that decided it for me and I went back to get my other chimes. I did end up having one to hang in the V.

While Jeremy and I were shopping for the flowers and pots he came across some perennials that he really liked and we decided to get them and plant them in front of the corner piece. By the time I had finished the pots we had come up with a better place for them. That project would have to wait for after work today though because I was too tired to do any more. I did take a picture of the before on this one though.

That spot is so hard to mow because it is basically a hole that I am guessing was a round garden at one time.

When I got home from work today I sent Jeremy to the store to get some weed block to roll out in what would be our new garden and while he did that I mowed the lawn. Then if you’ll notice there are two bricks that are a little more curved than the others so I dropped them in the driveway to break them if half. (That was kind of fun.) Anyway he finally got home and I let him remove the grass. We used it to fill some holes in the back yard. I did the stuff closest to the rose while Jeremy rested. When we were ready to put the dirt in we discovered that he had accidentally grabbed the bags of bark. So back to the store to return the two unopened bags and get soil. Well he got a couple more plants while he was there.

I am quite happy with the end result. We had a lot of weed block, one bag of soil and half a bag of bark left so I went with my new theory of, “If it’s hard to mow it’s got to go.”

Ok, so it is not real pretty just yet. the roots of this tree are the worst for mowing over and now I wont have to. I will post a new blog when this project gets completed. Except for the two broken bricks this really doesn’t look bad from a distance.

My OCD Moment

Well it started with a rather frustrating day at work last Saturday. Or maybe it really began the night before when I could not get to sleep and did everything in my power to not start organizing my closet. I woke up tired and by the time I got off work I just wanted to feel better and found myself doing something I have never done before. I shopped for new clothes. (yes I have shopped for clothes before just not as a way to make myself feel better) When I got home I went into the bedroom to put away my new clothes and was again struck by the sudden compulsion to reorganize my closet. (I was tripping over my shoes again) So I started out by putting a load of laundry on and kicking the rest into the hallway. I threw everything from my closet onto my bed and then spent like a half and hour or so vacuuming the floor. You’ll notice in the pictures that we are not talking about a lot of floor here. Fortunately Melaina was too busy with Niki to make fun of me for this. By the time I got all the laundry done everything was put where I wanted it. You may think this is the end. You would be wrong. I followed all of this with pictures to send to my Mom and Sister. What follows is the email I sent them. 

Left to right: pj's for tonight, corduroy, denim, other pj's. Top drawer: two slips, my old tummy sucker (just in case), six bra's (yes I got new ones) and panties. Middle drawer: light socks, medium socks and dark socks across the back and tights and pantyhose in front. Bottom drawer: all my sandals and flip flops. Every shoe in it's place

 

look nothing to trip over

 

ok left to right: 3/4 sleeve shirts that look like two layers, short sleeve look like two layers, long sleeve blouses, 3/4 sleeve blouses, short sleeve blouses, short sleeve knits with collar, sleeveless blouses, sleeveless knits with collar, 3/4 sleeve top w/out collar, short sleeve w/out collar, long sleeve knits, 3/4 sleeve knits, short sleeve knits (aka T-shirts), sleeveless, empty hangers, casual slacks on fold over pants hanger, city shorts, Capri's, slacks, knee length skirts, long skirts, dresses and scarves. Robe on hook. Shelf left to right: blankets, sheets and pillow cases, winter hats, snow sweaters (likely to go away cause they're from the 80's), two stacks of assorted sweater with two active wear outfits on bottom of right stack.

 

  Left to right: new top and shoes, new top and shorts, new top and pants, new top

 

Ultimately this was more of a day than a moment but hey I have clothes for spring and summer and my closet is clean. The end result is much better than if I had eaten junk food to feel better.

My bed is not a litter box!!!

Well I had the pleasant surprise when I crawled into bed last night of finding that yet again one of the cats urinated on my bed. I have tried so many different products to eliminate both the smell and the problem. I can’t exactly keep the door closed because I can’t get Cougar to come out from under the bed and I don’t want her trapped in my room. Plus when the heater comes on I get cooked. I had a product that took out the stain and the odor but after it ran out the can got thrown out and I don’t remember what it was. So, I used this pet odor stuff last night and then had to use the hair drier on it before I could put clean sheets on. Then today I was looking under my sink in the kitchen and found that I have smoke odor eliminator. It is a zep product and is commercial grade. I had bought it for use in my car. Anyway I read the can and it says quickly eliminates odors caused by cigars, cigarettes, Body waste, garbage, animals and fire damage. So I stripped my bed and sprayed the mattress. I really hope this works. There is nothing worse than thinking you have cleaned something and then waking to find that your body heat has reactivated the smell. Cat piss is NOT a pleasant smell to wake up to. I love my animals but once again I find myself asking … Why do I have five cats?

            Cougar                                      Sirus Black       

          Moon Shadow                               Wicket

                     Beef

         (the primary suspect)

Hey this does work with windows live writer

I really like using windows live writer and therefore have been reluctant to change the way I blog. Turns out that I can use writer and post to this blog without the copy and paste technique that I have been using for so long and will likely not continue to use windows live spaces. None of my friends are on it anyway. I find that I have little to no interest in myspace anymore but I still have a couple of friends who have yet to convert to facebook so for them I guess I will still paste my blog there. Now I just need to see if there is a way to transfer my archives to this site. Ah the challenges of technology.

Hair Color

I was in Safeway today and happened to be passing the hair color section. I stopped to see what kind of selection they had. I have been considering dying my hair for a while now and Jeremy said he would like it if I went blonde. I knew I wanted a subtle change so I chose Clarol Hydrience #16 Dark Blonde. Ok, talk about subtle. It is essentially the same color I had before minus what Julian so kindly referred to as my “platinum blonde” hairs and slightly lighter underneath where my hair always gets extremely dark in the winter. It did bring out a bit more of the red highlights which I like.  Over all I am not unhappy with it.

before after

SNAP-Ed Connection: Recipes Finder

My cousin Carrina wrote about this website in her blog and I thought I would pass it on to all of you:

My cheap and oh-so-good noodle bowl got me thinking. A couple of years ago, I discovered the USDA's online recipe-finder tool (http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/). It features a sizeable database of easy, generally healthy, and very economical recipes. Each recipe has been analyzed for cost and nutritional content. Many of the recipes are submitted by nutritionists who are trying to get people to eat healthily while using food stamps. This makes it a great place to go to find basic, bare-bones recipes that cost between 30 and 90 cents a person (some more). Then, if you decide that you want to splurge on kale or use leftover green onions, you can do that - but in most cases, you don't have to go out and buy something crazy just because it holds the recipe together. And, the database is incredibly searchable, since it's partly intended for social workers to use to get their nutrition messages across.

Here are just a few of the many ways you can search:

-Nutrition Education Topic (Calcium-Rich Food; Whole Grains; Less Saturated Fat, Trans Fat and Cholesterol)

-Theme (Ready in 30 Minutes Or Less, Food Resource Management)

-Menu Items (self-explanatory)

-Ingredients

-Ratings

-Audience (Parents of young children, Middle Eastern, Southern, Vegetarian)

-Cooking Equipment (Microwave, Wok, No Cooking Required, Stovetop/Hot Plate)

-And: recipe cost! Yes, you can actually specify that your search results cost less than a certain amount per serving and/or recipe.

There are even official-looking Nutrition Facts with each recipe, as well as a shopping list feature (you can browse through recipes, click "Add to shopping list" when one looks good, and then view your list to see what you'll need).

In honor of our crappy economy, I've decided to start using this website a lot more. It's such a great tool! In fact, I may try to cook things from it every day this week. I'll let you know how they turn out.
So, tonight we're having Spaghetti With Lentils, which is kind of cheating because it's the first recipe I ever used off of this site when I first discovered it.

Posted by Carrina

Thank you Carrina for letting me repost part of your blog in my own.

SNAP-Ed Connection: Recipes Finder

About Face

I have been thinking about wearing makeup more regularly and have even talked a bit with my friend Jane about it. There are a combination of reasons for this train of thought. First off I have put a lot of work into updating my wardrobe. Finding comfortable business casual clothing that fits well, is age appropriate and figure flattering. What better way to finish off my new look than with nice subtle makeup? Next reason being that I am currently unhappy with the way my skin looks. I am noticing that the closer I get to forty the more my carelessness during my younger years in the sun is starting to show. Lastly, my Hunny bunny likes it. The main thing holding me back is what will it do to my sensitive skin and what will I use to take it off? Those are actually rhetorical questions. I knew the answers I just had done nothing about it yet. I've been stalling. Partly because I have very little experience with cosmetics. I wasn't really sure where to start. Or that is what I told myself every time I found myself looking at the makeup in the grocery store when I went to pick up milk or Walmart when I was getting TP and kitty litter. So, all this stalling left me borrowing Melaina's makeup when I decided to wear makeup to my Grandpa's birthday party on Saturday. Not good. After only four hours I had developed one of those very painful, very deep, very large blemishes on my cheek. As a result I had to part my hair to the opposite side in order to hide it for that last couple of days. No more stalling. Time to make a plan and take some action. Step one get my skin healthy. I called Heather and asked her to help me get resigned up with Arbonne International. I considered just ordering from her but I like getting a discount and being able to sell it to my friends if they want it. Arbonne is the one thing I know I can trust to use on my face. I am so excited to get my skin feeling and looking good again.

Step 1

Catching Up

Well I haven't written in a long time. (almost three months) So here are the highlights.

November: Jeremy was working and Julian was healing well. We went to my Moms for thanksgiving and I got to have Friday off so I was able to help them get their Christmas decorations up and Grandma let me decorate her apartment too. Melaina didn't get to be in the thanksgiving parade but she saw her friends on TV. I was training in the Cash office at work and still getting a lot of hours.

December: We decorated our house in blue silver and white Christmas decorations. Jeremy got December pretty much off because his contract ended and that meant nothing until after the holidays. Julian got his boot off right before the snow. We all had fun building a snow slide and snow forts out of the snow I shoveled off the driveway. Our friends flew in from Kansas to visit with his family and us for the holidays. Christmas was fun. I worked a short shift in the morning on Christmas eve and when I got home we celebrated with the kids. They went to there Dads house for Christmas day and Jeremy and I just stayed home and had a nice quiet day. The Saturday after Christmas the snow was finally melting and we went to celebrate Christmas with Julian's family. It was at Sherry's house and her street was still deep with slush. The next day (my birthday) we finally made it down to my moms to celebrate Christmas and birthdays. It was a lot of fun.

January: Jeremy and I had our nine year anniversary. I have gotten quite good at the cash office and Jeremy started his second week of his new job today. This is a long call so that gives me some hope. Travis and Deb (the friends who came to visit) decided to stay and are actually staying with us for three months. Travis had his first day of work the same day as Jeremy. After his three months of training he will be a maintenance supervisor at an apartment complex in Kent and they will get an apartment then. My hours have been cut back. (normal for retail after the holidays) I had my six month review day before yesterday and I did well. I got a raise. I expect to do better at my one year. I have very high expectations for myself.

So, there you have it. Life is busy but Life is GOOD.

Always willing to try something new

Well my sweet cousin is using blogger so I thought since I had to create a profile in order to follow her blog I would try it out and see if I like it better than my current blogging tool. We'll see.

One Scary Halloween

Ok, for those of you who want just the basics. Friday afternoon at about three thirty Julian was coming home from the store and was crossing 76th when he was struck by a police car. He was taken to Harborview and was checked over very thoroughly. He came home just after midnight with a concussion and a broken leg.

Now the in depth account.

I got home from work at just after three in the afternoon and Julian met me on the front porch to ask if he could run down to Top Foods to see if they had any black hairspray for Melaina's costume. I said yes and off he went. I went into the carport and talked to my Mom on the phone for a bit then she needed to go so they could shampoo the carpet. As I stepped out of the carport Melaina and Ashton had come out and Melaina was checking to see if Julian was back yet. We saw just down the street several police cars gathering. Now we have lived on this corner for six and a half years so we are quite accustomed to car accidents and I mentioned that I didn't see any cars that appeared to have had an accident so maybe someone got hit by a car. We watched for a minute as more and more emergency vehicles arrived. During which time I had Ashton take my witch hat in the house and I put on my knit hat. As we were standing there I suddenly thought oh my god Julian walked to the store. I said to Melaina "What if it's Julian?" I told them to wait there while I go check.

I hurried down to the scene and saw feet and one leg and thought it looked like it was Julian. I still wasn't sure but my gut said it was. A police officer was asking me to move back and I was stepping back and saying I think it is my son. Do you have a name is it Julian Robertson. One of the EMT's moved enough for me to get a glimpse of his face and yes it was Julian. I continued backing up to the side walk and telling the officer I'm his mom his name is Julian Robertson. After that they got really nice. He said ok we will let you see him in just a second and you can go to the hospital with him we are sending him to Harbor view. I said ok I need to grab my purse it's just right there and I pointed to Aston and Melaina in the driveway. He asks which car and I responded no there in the yard my kids have it. He said ok and I was off back up the street to Melaina and Ashton. I said it's Julian I got my purse from Aston and told them go in the house and wait. I then hurried back to the scene and one of the EMT's escorted me to the side door of the aid car. I took a cleansing breath, put on a calm expression and climbed in. I said "Hi sweetie, how are you doing?" Julian looked up and said "Good, what happened?" I said "You got hit by a car." He responded with "Oh, what was I doing?" I said "You went to the store." I heard someone ask if he had any ID. So I asked him "Do you have your wallet?" He felt in his pocket and said no. At this point they are cutting his clothes off of him and I am being directed back out of the ambulance.

It was clear that there would not be room for me to ride in the ambulance with him so I started back toward my house and called my mom told her what happened hung up called Jeremy told him and asked where he was he was almost home so I said I would wait for him and go down to the hospital with him. I called Stacy and Matt. Then as I was going to put water in the radiator of the car Debbie called me and said she was bringing Luke to the hospital and did I need a ride. I told her that Jeremy was coming and that I would go with him. As I was putting the hose away I suddenly thought that I had not seen a car at the scene so I asked the officer who was standing with me "Was it a hit and run? I don't remember seeing a car." He said no it was officer so and so (don't remember the name) I think my only response to that was a really surprised "OH." I know I had told Jeremy not to use 76th that it was all blocked so he came in the back way just as I was capping the radiator. Three officers ran up to him and told him where I was and that an officer would be escorting us down to the hospital.

Most of the ride there was phone calls Stacy asking if she could take the kids to her house. Me calling Matt to tell him the kids were going to Stacy's. My  mom and my sister. I know I was too wound up to  look out the front window and I remember just before we got to the hospital thinking how sore my stomach was and realizing that I was tensing my abs and that I could not relax them. I think that is where the saying "My stomach is in knots." comes from.

When we got to the hospital it was just wait he was in having a CT scan and then x-rays so it would be an hour or more before we would hear anything. Finally I was able to go back and see him. He really looked ok. he looked tired but he only has like six scrapes and the ones on his face looked like a tiny bit of rug burn. I think the descriptions of my dads face when he fell and really did have rug burn were worse than Julian. Anyway by this time Julian is able to remember more of what happened and one of the many doctors said that it is common to have amnesia and that he would likely remember even more the next day. I don't remember when or how the rest of the information came to me but he had a trauma induced seizure when he was hit, bleeding between his skull and his skin causing a bruise and concussion, a break in the non weight bearing bone in his leg and six scrapes. He is one lucky kid. He threw up a couple of times as we were trying to leave the hospital to come home but has kept everything down since then. He also has full recollection of everything but the impact itself. He never saw the car and woke up on the ground.

So, there you have it as best as I can tell it at this point. I am exhausted and relieved my brain is still fuzzy and I don't have a concussion.  Thank you to everyone who helped, stopped by or sent well wishes or prayers.

Homecoming/Work/Whatnot

Melaina looked great for her homecoming dance last week. I thought I would share the picture of her. I love the red shoes with that dress. I am still learning that things do not need to match they need to go. Plus Stacy and Clinton talk about wearing a great shoe that really makes a statement. Melaina comes by that kind of thinking naturally. Cracks me up that she calls those her whore heals. I never even told her that when I used to wear them I called them my hoochy shoes.

Work is still going great. I had my first review a couple of weeks ago and scored very well. I have been getting full time hours since then and am still loving working there. having a week off from doing mark downs has been fun. I got to help move every rack in the center of the store. aka "the infield" I moved the clearance hand bags, stocked a lot of 60/80 (the home décor stuff), kids, toys and clothing for the infield. After the move I realized that one of the racks was backwards so there were active tops then active shorts and then the rest of the active tops. It was making me crazy so I fixed it. I got to help Holly for part of one day doing some office type work. Yesterday was a great day for my OCD tendencies. My project was to remove all the sheet sets, duvet covers, pillow cases and shams. Then after resetting the shelf heights with Anthony for the entire isle I got to put them all back. When I was done they were in order of size and grouped by brand in each size. same with the duvet covers and I even sized the pillow cases and pillow shams. It looked beautiful. I spent most of the rest of the day putting everything on the correct racks in misses clothing. It was a fun day.

My Nephew Kayle came up from Arizona and hung with us for a couple of days. It was great to see him and spend a little time getting to know him. I haven't ever really had the opportunity to spend more than a couple of hours with him and that has always been at a family gathering so really no one on one time. We got a picture of him at his best. You might almost think he is a sweet kid when he is asleep. Ha ha ha jk Kayle. =)

Got a lot of chores done around the house last night and today. My Mom and Dad are coming up to visit with their friends and are stopping by here for a bit first. Today is my Mom's birthday so I am glad we get to see her. We are going to sew some buttons on Melaina's shorts and go to T.J. Maxx so she can return a shirt that she got last time and get something else. This is a great weekend to do it because we are giving an additional 25% off on all clearance items so she may get more for her money. Of coarse I am kind of hoping I can convince her that she really wants to buy me a new pair of pants that I can wear to work. hehe

Anyway hope all is well with everyone else. Happy birthday also to Niki and Sherry hope you both have a good one.