Category Archives: sick

News from the Couch and Beyond – Vol. I

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I’ve decided to start a new series for when I have nothing to say. Which is quite often. Hence the “Mundane ramblings about a whole lotta nuthin’” tag line above.

And now the first installment of

News From The Couch

The Couch:

I should be at work right now, but I’m not. Instead I’m sitting on the aforementioned couch in yoga pants and a sweatshirt wishing I was at work because that would mean I felt better. I’m not violently ill or anything like that, but I think I might be trying to divert a bout of diverticulitis. (Do you see what I did there? “Divert” and “Diverticulitis” in the same sentence. Clever, no?) It’s either that or last night’s Chinese was a bad decision. Either way my tummy is restless, my jeans are too tight and nobody wants to be around me. Please don’t ask me to explain that last sentence because I won’t.

Beyond:

Local:

I read an article this morning about a 27-year-old woman who is suing Lehigh University for 1.3 million dollars because she received a C+ in 2009. Apparently she needed a B in this particular fieldwork class to qualify for another round of fieldwork, a requirement to obtain a master’s in counseling and human services. She is seeking damages for the loss of income she would have received over the course of her career had she been able to go on to be a state-certified counselor. The defense claims her behavior in class was not appropriate for someone seeking a counseling degree and cited her use of profanity and an episode of crying in the class.

The Link:

You can read the full article HERE

My Take:

I wouldn’t want her to be my counselor. Ever.

Your thoughts?

Global:

In Tel Aviv a girl’s car was towed from the spot in front of her apartment that she had been parking in for over six months. When she came out to get in her car it was gone and a marked handicap spot was in its place. Turns out there was a video camera across the street that caught the whole sordid event on tape. The city marked the spot WHILE HER CAR WAS STILL PARKED and then called a tow truck to have the car removed.

The Link:

You can watch the video HERE

My Take:

That’s craziness!

Your thoughts?

Gratuitous Grin:

When a family dining out received their bill, they were surprised to see a discount for well behaved children.

The Link:

You can read the article HERE

My Take:

Excluding the parents of special needs children, there are two types of parents who take their children to nice restaurants. Parents who require a certain behavior and parents who don’t. It’s easy to find articles about misbehaving children, but it’s really nice to read something about good kids.

Your thoughts?

Thank you for joining me for the first riveting episode of News from the Couch and Beyond. Check back often (and by ”often” I mean in the next month or two) for the next fascinating installment. 

Presidents’ Day And Other Happenings

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Happy Presidents’ Day – especially those of you who get the day off of school or work. Personally I’d rather be celebrating spring. A warm, but not hot, sunny day with the windows open and the smell of fragrant flowers wafting through a very clean and dust free house (it’s my fantasy, isn’t it?). While I’m at it, on this very lovely day I would like to be boxing up clothes that are now much to large for me and putting away my new, significantly smaller clothes that fit just right and proclaim a chic, yet casual sense of style…

Wow. That was a great happy place. I’ll have to remember to go there more often!

There is still snow everywhere. Mostly still pretty snow, except for on the sides of the roads. A good deal of that snow is rather dirty. And the snow on our deck? Sookie has an issue with getting off the deck with all the snow in the yard so she’s been using the snow on the deck AS HER RESTROOM! “Don’t eat yellow snow” has taken on a whole new meaning. Not to mention the poopcicles out there. Just… yuck. The silver lining? I’ll get back to you.

And guess what! They’re calling for more snow tonight and tomorrow night. At one time some meteorologists were saying we could get another 10 inches. Thankfully that thought is now passe and they’re talking about 2 to 4 inches where we live. The silver lining? Because it’s supposed to snow tonight and into the morning hours I think school is going to be delayed by 2 hours. Not such a bad thing considering we’ve all had the last six mornings to sleep in late. We could use a 2 hour delay to ease into getting up early again.

While I’m on a roll here, I think I’ll just keep up the slightly negative tone of this post.

Todd and I are sick. Late Friday afternoon he started complaining about stomach cramps and I just figured he was being some kind of a baby (because I lack compassion. It’s true.) Friday night, however, as Katie and I were watching The Princess Bride (as opposed to the opening ceremonies – don’t judge me. I’m still a proud American) my tummy started doing the same thing. Sure enough. We both ended up with some weird kind of stomach bug. There has been no throwing up, but a lot of wishing there was some throwing up just to feel better. And there’s been quite a bit of, um, “running” to the bathroom, if you catch my drift. I was actually going to go into work this morning, but my stomach still hurts and I can’t eat much of anything without feeling horrible. Weird. The silver lining? I’m starting my weight loss program today! And heaven forbid the kids get it and miss school – from my fingers to God’s eyes.

My sister, Terri, lives in Fort Worth. They, too, had snow. Quite a bit for that region, in fact. She had a great time playing in the snow with her grandson, Anthony. They had snowball fights and built a snowman. Lots of fun for an awesome grandma. But she slipped and fell Friday night on her driveway, breaking her leg at the ankle and requiring an ambulance ride to the hospital. They set it and put a splint on it, but when the swelling goes down she’ll require surgery. The silver lining? They prescribed her some killer goofers!

I’ve been reading An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon for the last couple of months. It’s a little over 800 pages and I’m having a fairly difficult time with it. If you don’t know anything about this book I’ll tell you. It’s book number 7 in the Outlander series. The first several books of the series are amazingly good and the real talent DG has is for building such complex characters that you end up feeling as though they’re good friends. So you keep reading the series, even though the books start getting a little bogged down. I’m finding this current read a little bit like a treasure hunt. There’s a lot of sand to dig though, but I keep coming up with little, or big, gems so it makes the work worth it. Living near Philadelphia with all it’s Revolutionary War history makes it interesting, too, because that’s what’s going on in the book. So I’m enjoying it, and yet I’m not. I just want to read the good parts and move on to a much smaller, much more shallow and insipid, much easier book to read! But I can’t until I’ve finished this one. So maybe I should get off the computer and read some more.

Oh wait! I forgot I was supposed to post more pictures of the blizzard. So without further ado, I give you THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 2010








And how about these pictures of “Meerkat Brady”, taken by Laura. He was looking for his girlfriend through the snow, but couldn’t see over the drifts!


I’m Still Around

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My poor mother had to call me today because I haven’t been keeping up with my blog so she didn’t know what was going on with me. Sadder words have never been typed! So I’m going to give you a bit of random…

* * *

We had Chinese food the other day and check out my fortune:

Todd was pretty smug when I read it to him because every time I complain about my weight or any other cruddy side effect of having cancer he says pretty much the same thing. This is the part where I usually say something flippant and roll my eyes, but Mothers with Cancer lost one of our own last night so I’m going to embrace these simple words and be grateful for what I have.

* * *

This upcoming Friday I am going to the spa with my friends; Kris, Laura and Sheri. Last year for each birthday we chipped in and bought a gift card for a one hour massage and we’re finally getting around to cashing in on them. It’s going to be exactly like Sex in the City, except there will be no sex going on and the spa is actually in a pretty rural, yet quaint, little town. But there will be four exceptionally beautiful and fashion savvy women. Really.

Laura made the reservations for us, but we each had to call in and give them our GC number. So I called and gave my number to the receptionist and then I took a deep breath and said, “I have a rather embarrassing question to ask you.” She was very nice as I told her I had breast reconstruction a couple of years ago and am unable to lay on my stomach. My obvious concern was that I wouldn’t be able to get the massage. After relaying the information to the massage therapist she came back and told me it wouldn’t be a problem.

Here again I would like to complain about the inconvenience of cancer, but I remember Lisa and my fortune so I won’t.

* * *

Sookie is much better. Poor, neglected dog.


* * *

Todd, on the other hand, is still sick. His fever broke a week ago and his doctor put him on a steroid dose pack to clear the chest congestion so he could breathe, but he’s still under the weather. He’s going back to the doctor on Monday and I just hope he doesn’t have pneumonia because: A) He has another business trip next week and he gets to visit his brother’s family; B) He’s tired of feeling miserable; and C) I don’t do well with sick people in my house.

* * *

We had a little taste of spring yesterday. It was delightful. First of all, I have instituted a new “below freezing” rule which says if it’s not below freezing I’m not driving the kids to the bus stop. Now the bus stop is only a half a block away and it’s not the walking in the cold weather I’m opposed to. It’s them standing there for 20 minutes in the below freezing temps that I don’t like. Let’s face it – I’ll always be a Southern California beach girl at heart. But yesterday morning it was around 38 – well above freezing.

And when I opened the back door to let Sookie out it smelled wondermus. I don’t remember this smell in California, but you Southerners know exactly what I’m talking about. The smell of early spring. It’s in my top ten favorite smells ever, maybe top five.

It was just nice to leave the house for some Homie Hang time and not have to bundle up like Randy in A Christmas Story. But guess what. We are now expected snow. Not just a little, either. Depending on who you listen to we could get up to 10 inches of snow between tomorrow night and Monday morning. Of course, I’ll believe it when I see it.

I have mixed emotions here. On one hand, we’ve had a lot of snow events this year, but no measurable snow to speak of. It would be nice to have one good sledding snow. On the other hand I’m ready for spring. I’m ready to have the windows open and take the dog for walks without freezing.

* * *

There is much more random in my life, but this is all you get today. Who knows? Maybe I’ll write more tomorrow!!

Where In The World Have I Been?

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Or more appropriately, where has the last week gone?? Is this what happens when you go back to work? You’re actually up and out and doing things and the next thing you know, the entire week is gone and you’re onto the next one? And not just the working thing, either, but Todd was in Phoenix last week which meant I was running the kids all over the place just about every night. So who has time to blog? (Sorry Lynilu!)

Saturday I worked in Katie’s room with her. Holy moly, is all I’m gonna say. ‘Cause really, anything else would just be mean. OH ALL RIGHT! I’ve just gotta say a little more. What an absolute disaster! We got a lot done, but we’re far from finished. We did see – and even vacuum – a good deal of carpet that we haven’t see in quite some time. That was exciting.

Saturday night I had a little bit of a meltdown. It was a cumulation of a lot of things – some big, some not so big – all related to cancer in some form or fashion. It sounds pretty lame to me considering I’ve been out of treatment for over three years now. It’s this stinking “new normal”. I don’t like it. I miss the old normal. I was fairly happy with the old normal. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but I was comfortable and content with who I was. Now I have a hard time seeing that same person. And not just my outward appearance, either. Even my way of thinking is different and not necessarily for the better.

I blame Beth Moore for the cryfest. My Home Team is doing her study on David and Friday we watched a video where she talked about the process of dealing with an overwhelming circumstance when you’re close to God. With each step she mentioned I could see a short video of my life three-plus years ago played out and, frankly, it hurt.

I saw myself flat on the floor next to my bed, crying my heart out to God. I saw myself during the days before my surgery, praying the doctor was wrong. I saw myself as I was going through chemo, weeping and praying for success and asking to be around long enough to see my grandchildren. I saw myself when I was weak or in pain or heartbroken over my long distance marriage, praying for the strength to just get to the next day. And I saw myself following all my scans and appointment with my oncologist after my last treatment, praising God and thanking Him for getting me through it all.

Try as I might to go to my happy place and ignore Beth Moore altogether, I couldn’t do it and I ended up in tears. Stupid Beth Moore. Stupid leaky eyes. But what great friends I have to love me despite my little emotional outburst.

After that I was kept pretty busy and didn’t have a lot of time to think about and process the lesson. But deep inside I knew it would happen because there are some things I’m still dealing with that make me very sad, though I tend to just push those matters to the back. But Beth had opened the door and by Saturday night the door flew open and it all came spilling out. Poor Todd. Or I should say poor, wonderful Todd.

There is, as usual, much more to the story that I’m not willing to share. Some things are just too personal (she who wrote nearly every detail of her breast reconstruction says). At least for right now. Some day it will be written down for all to read, though. Because nobody ever told me it would be like this and though I realize everybody is different, I’m finding out these taboo issues are common among survivors.

Not surprisingly, I slept really well Saturday night! And last night, too. I had the hardest time getting out of the bed this morning. Not only that, but I’m just about to admit I’m getting sick. So far I’ve managed to deny it to myself and everyone else, but the sandpaper in my throat can be ignored for only so long. And now it’s after 11:00 and I have to get up early tomorrow!! Because, you know, I’m still working toward that Mother Of The Year thing. Only 352 days left! But I have to say, each freezing morning I get up and out early enough to drive my kids the half a block to the bus stop the less appealing the award is looking to me.

So there you have it. That’s where I’ve been. Right here, doing my thing – whatever that may be.

Sickies, Weight, Age, and Other Depressing Subjects

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I’m almost afraid of jinxing myself by typing this, but since I’m not the superstitious type I’m going to type it anyway. Everyone in my family has been sick except for me. Taylor started it off, to be quickly followed by Katie and Todd. Apparently all those immune system workouts at the preschool last year has finally paid off. Still, I wish the rest of the family would feel better. And stop breathing on me.

Todd’s folks gave us a Wii for Christmas, including Wii Sport and Wii Fit. There’s a fitness test on Wii Sport that measures balance, stamina and strength and then tells you your fitness age. The first time I did it I came up as 57. I’m 43. The goal is 20. No biggy, though. I figured after a couple days of getting into the swing of things I’d test closer to my real age. So two days later I took the test again. This time I scored at 77. As in 20 years older than my already too old score of 57. Made me want to throw a shoe at the TV. I made up for it with my last test, though, where I came up as 31. I think I’ll stop with the testing for a while and just go with that score.

To do the Wii Fit you have to make a profile. You give your age and your height, you stand on the balance board to be weighed and it gives you your BMI. It also plumps up your cute little Wii character in direct proportion to your BMI. Which I find very sad because if she is my virtual self shouldn’t she look how I WANT to look? You know – tall, thin, alluringly sexy as opposed to short, pudgy and middle aged – how I look in real life.

When I get past my Wii image I thoroughly enjoy it. I do a little yoga, a little balance fitness and a little aerobics for 30 minutes a day and bank my points. Right now I hold the lead in slalom, ski jump, hula hoop*, tight rope and running (I think). And I’m just competitive enough to want to keep those leads.

So the whole point is to exercise every day and watch my little Wii character’s BMI go down. So far I’ve watched it go up. I gained 3.1 pounds in three days and watched my fluffy little Wii girl get fluffier. In my head I know I couldn’t have gained 3 pounds of fat that quickly, but it sure is discouraging! No matter. I still plan on having fun with it. Maybe eventually my little Wii chick will be short, thin and middle aged. I’m not keen on the short or the middle aged, but I’ll take it.

My only other depressing subject is about tomorrow. The Monday after a two week break. I’m looking forward to getting back to work. I’m just not looking forward to getting up early. And do you know why I get up early? It’s not because I have to leave the house at an early hour or anything. No. It’s because I’m a bloomin’ good mom, that’s why! I could easily sleep until 7:30, maybe closer to 8:00 and still get to work by 9:00. But I get up early enough to take my shower and then see Taylor before he leaves for school at 6:45. I could take my shower after that, but then I wouldn’t get to hang out with Katie before she leaves at 7:20. For sure I could take my shower after that, but then Sookie would be in her crate from 7:30 until Taylor gets home from school at 3:00. So I sacrifice that which I hold near and dear to my heart just so I can be the loving, nurturing, selfless mom that I am, dangit!

Along those lines, I’m happy to say that it’s already the fourth of January and I’m STILL in the running for Mother of the Year 2009. I’m feeling good about it. I really think this is my year!

*If you’re interested, and I can’t imagine you would be, Todd wrote a post about me and the hula hoop.

A Day of Hair, Leaves and Dogs

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You may recall a month ago or so I said I was going to cut my hair after I’d lost 15 pounds. I changed my mind. I haven’t lost 15 pounds, but I did cut my hair today. Well, I didn’t cut my hair because I’m totally inept at that. Just ask Todd. Or Taylor. Or Katie. They each have received one hair cut from me. Lucky for Taylor and Katie their haircuts where when they were very young. Todd was not so lucky. But I digress.

As I said, I haven’t lost 15 pounds. I’ve lost 10. First I lost six pounds, then I gained five, then I lost four. So I may not be ten pounds lighter than I was, but I did lose ten. But that doesn’t even matter because I decided I really needed the change. I very much like it, though it doesn’t make me look 30 pounds lighter like I’d hoped. *sigh*

The cut is great, but at this very moment it looks hysterical. I ended up with a migraine today so I came home, popped two Excedrin Migraines and fell asleep on the couch with Sookie. So I think I’ll go wash it and see what I can do with it.

My friend, Darlene, is my stylist and she lives on a dairy farm in the country. So I grabbed my much adored camera and took a little drive after. The leaves are starting to change, though we’re still a few weeks away from peak foliage.




And the Sookie portion of today’s post. Look what she did to the screen. We still close it, though, to keep the really big bugs out.

An innocent looking Sookie.

Anti-Sookie/Brady fencing.

Whiny Wednesday

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I still feel like ca-ca, though less than I did yesterday. I took Nyquil last night and had drug-induced dreams of Anne of Green Gables arguing with me about sudoku puzzles. If that doesn’t make for a fitful sleep I don’t know what does.

The kids ditched me today for their friends. I can’t imagine why they would rather play with buddies instead of hanging out here, listening to me blow and watching me fall asleep in the chair. But whatever.

I finally managed to do a little grocery shopping yesterday, but before I could put the food away I had to clean out the fridge. I pulled out six or seven containers of some kind of ancient consumable and placed them on the counter so I’d have room for the good, edible food I had just purchased. After that I needed a nap so I just left the crud on the counter. When I went up to bed at 8:30 last night they were still sitting on the counter but I didn’t have the energy or the care to do anything with them. This morning they were suspiciously gone. And I can’t find the containers which leads me to the conclusion that Todd didn’t actually empty them, but rather he threw them away. Not just the mystery matter inside, but the actual containers. Some of them were really good containers. But do I care? Not really. Because caring takes energy and I have none.

Which is why the wreck of a house I’m existing in doesn’t bother me. I’m just looking forward to my date with Nyquil tonight and hope I don’t dream about a vicious red head with a penchant for number puzzles.

**Addendum**

I have confirmation that yes, Todd did, in fact, throw the containers away. As pertains to the house he also informed me he’s staying at the Marriott Courtyard tonight. He’s a funny guy!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

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I’m going to be very busy this weekend doing nothing. Seriously. I have the pleasure of a ton of alone time and I’m going to fill that time with flicks of the chick variety, books and computer. Coffee will be flowing freely and I may even throw in some Vermonty Python ice cream for good measure. I’m not going to go totally crazy with the eating, though.

I’m picking the kids up from school and taking them directly to church where they will get on a big bus and head to Harrisburg for PCTC – Pennsylvania Christian Teen Convention. They went last year and it was an awesome experience for all the teens.

My only glitch in the whole Weekend-To-Myself plan is another stinkin’ cold. It’s not a terrible cold. Mostly a full head – scratchy throat, plugged up ears, postnasal congestion. That sort of thing. But it made me miss Home Team this morning and I’m not happy about that! I drove the kids to the bus stop because it was about 12 degrees outside with a decent windchill and when I went upstairs around 7:20 to start getting ready I decided to lay down for a few minutes since I had plenty of time. The next thing I knew it was 9:10. Home Team starts at 9:00. Then I rolled over with the intention of getting up and making it for at least half of bible study and the next thing I knew it was 10:00. So I gave up. But I feel the loss of connecting with my Homies.

Oh wait. There may be another glitch. We’re supposed to get some snow and possibly ice tonight which means I’ll have to shovel the drive way tomorrow since my snow blowers will be in other parts of the country. That will cut into my indulgent plans and I’m not thrilled about that. But oh well.

But I am looking forward to having the remote control all to myself. I’m looking forward to catching up with all my blog buddies without hearing someone say “You spend more time with people you don’t even know than you do with us.” (I’ve never actually heard anyone say that, but there’s always the risk.) I don’t have to prepare any meals, do any laundry, be nice to anyone… I’m excited.

Both the kids asked me if I was really happy they were going away. Geesh. They make it sound so horrible when they put it that way. I told them I was thoroughly looking forward to some time alone, but that by Sunday I would be so happy to have them back. Hopefully I didn’t damage them any more than I already have. Driving Taylor to the bus stop in my pink robe and then cuffing him upside the head for messing with the buttons in the car in front of some of the neighborhood girls did enough of that.

And trying to pretend our life is a musical after watching Dream Girls and singing our conversation with a little dance move thrown in here and there seems to really bother him. Not Katie, though. She just plays along. OH! That reminds me of when she was very young – probably around four or five, maybe a little older. I would tell her to go clean her room and then spy on her from around the corner. She would walk around the room very dramatically, singing, “My mother told me to clean my room, but I don’t want to-o-o-o-o-o-o. Why must I do these things she asks of me-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e?” It was hysterical! I so wish I would have gotten that on tape. She was starring in her own little version of Katierella or something. So funny!

Back to all of my family being gone. I suppose I could have lied to them and tell them how sad I was going to be, how miserable my lonely weekend would be, how I would probably spend most of the time crying, blah, blah, blah. But they would have caught on pretty quickly and lying is just wrong.

Lucky Todd gets to see his new niece and nephew – The Pretty Princess and Tank. Or Olivia and Nicholas. I’m very jealous. VERY JEALOUS! They are so cute! We’re going to California for Christmas (in Palm Springs) and I’ll get to see them then. But this very weekend — nay, this very day he’ll get to hold them and squeeze them and munch on them… Jealous I am. (I talk like that because I’m part hobbit. Remember?) My mother-in-law cracks me up because she’s so worried my children will think she doesn’t love them any more now that she has two new grandchildren. How wrong she is, but I can’t figure out how to convince her of that.

Ooo! Look at the time!! It’s almost time to pick up the kids!!

Ciao!!

Happy Friday!!

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Friday means I get to sleep in as late as I want to tomorrow. I’ve been so tired lately that I may just stay in bed until lunch. Probably not, but just knowing I can makes me nigh giddy.

Friday also means that I get to meet with my Homies. I adore that about Fridays because I love my Homies. A few of them weren’t able to make it this morning and I missed them, but I was sure happy to be with the ones who were there.

We’re doing Beth Moore’s study on the book of Daniel and it’s some powerful stuff. I find it interesting because several years ago I wrote a play for VBS on the book of Daniel. I read the entire book a few times and then each chapter numerous times as I wrote each scene. It’s fair to say I have a pretty decent knowledge of the whole book. But Beth Moore digs deep and reveals fascinating tidbits that writing a children’s play just doesn’t uncover.

***

I’m sick again. Not terribly so, but enough to be exhausted and feel a bit icky. No worries, though. As I said above, I get to sleep in tomorrow morning. And if I do nothing more than lay on the couch all day after that then no biggy.

***

Katie tried out for the school play and made it. We don’t know what part she has, but the play is the comedy Lagooned. Here’s a synopsis:

Just sit right down and enjoy a tale – a tale that combines parts of Fantasy Island, Treasure Island, and Gilligan’s Island. Now you’ve got some idea of what’s in store when you’re lagooned. In this sequel to Tim Kelly’s ever popular play, “Don’t Rock the Boat,” some favorite characters do their best to survive on a weird atoll in the South Pacific, the home of cannibals, jungle drums, and nasty wildlife including a gorilla! They don’t realize the island is actually part of Fantasy Tours, an organization that stages shipwrecks for clients willing to pay the price. The phony natives think the ship’s loonies are customers and the loonies think the natives are genuine. Naturally, when the belching volcano demands a bride, the hilarity explodes! Oh, yeah, the U.S. Navy has mistakenly designated the island for target practice!

Looks fun, doesn’t it??

***

THIS JUST IN – Katie is watching Everyday Italian and Giada De Laurentiis throws in a “tablespoon” of butter. I made the comment that it was more than just a tablespoon and Katie says, “Mom, it’s an Italian tablespoon. And not only that, but you know how the camera adds 10 pounds.” The silly girl makes my heart smile.

***

The silly girl also frustrates me. Did you know that 13-year-olds know much more about applying makeup than middle aged women? Yeah. I’m not lying. Just ask Katie.

***

Taylor is off having an airsoft battle with three other 10th grade boys who think it’s fun to be shot by little plastic b.b.s. Katie is going to a dance at school and then coming home with three other girls for a sleep over. Todd and I are probably going to watch more of season 1 of the Gilmore Girls tonight. It doesn’t get more exciting than that!

Catching Up and Upcoming Posts

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I started my training in earnest this morning. I finally feel well enough to do something more strenuous than blowing my nose and throwing away the Kleenex. Though I did lose two pounds last week. I was going to ask my scientist friend, Kris, what the molecular make up of snot is and how to determine the density in direct proportion to mass quantity which resulted in reducing my overall weight by two pounds, but I thought she’d enjoy it just a little too much so I changed my mind.

Today I walked 2.5 miles on the treadmill in just under 50 minutes. Not a great time or distance, but I’m happy with it. Especially because I think I should be able to call it an even 3 miles as the last half a mile I walked with my legs crossed. No easy feat, that. Note to self. Remember to go potty before you start your training.

Not only am I in training now, but I’m also making better food choices. Don’t you dare say I’m on a diet. I am NOT on a diet. Like New Year’s Resolutions, diets are another set up for failure. I consider the “D” word as bad as the “E” word. I am simply choosing to eat healthier foods as advised to me by the powers that be at Weight Watchers.

Tonight I’m getting together with three other neighbors – Kris, Sherri and Laura – for our first weekly… something or other. I don’t think we’ve actually named it. But we’re going to meet, weigh ourselves (with no one else seeing), drink water or maybe even tea, hold each other accountable and be encouraging. I so want to take a cheese ball or dip as bad as Kris wants to serve wine or martinis. But that would defeat our purpose. We’re setting aside 30 minutes once a week. Our “business” should take about 10, leaving another 20 to just shoot the breeze.

***

After walking this morning, I started going through some of our boxes in the basement. I’m happy to say there are now four less boxes. Never mind two of the boxes were already empty. They are now in the designated empty boxes section, making the boxes-full-of-who-knows-what section looking a little better.

***

Tomorrow is PJ day at the preschool. I love the thought of wearing my jammies to work. I just have to remember to take a change of clothing so I don’t have to wear my jammies into the restaurant when I meet Todd for lunch afterwards.

***

There are those among you who continue to plague me about a story I mentioned in passing on another blog. The Lake Perris story. You know who you are. And while I’d rather not dredge up something I thought I had laid to rest, I’m finding it’s a bit like a decaying tooth. I can try to ignore it, but it just keeps getting worse. So I will start working on the retelling of that fateful day. Mom – consider this your warning.

***

One more post you can look forward to is the Little Rock Race for the Cure in October of 2005. Now THAT’S a good story!