A New Journey

Two years ago, I jumped on a bandwagon that I really could've done without. It did me no good whatsoever and cost a few hundred dollars. Of course, it was a 'fad' diet...Body by Vi. One of those shake things. I didn't lose any more than I would've by just normal dieting. The first couple of weeks, the shakes were actually yummy. I found my favorite add-ons were coffee, peanut butter, cinnamon, or banana *sometimes even random combinations.* After a few weeks of twice a day shakes...mixing the drink, putting it in the blender, cleaning the blender, having all the ingredients at work...those yummy shakes began to take on a strange taste to me. More of an after-taste than a taste. I began to dread them. My stomach eventually turned at the thought of them. Needless to say, I didn't last very long on that diet. I still have three one-month supply packages of the shake mix in the cabinet. When I decided to do the Vi shakes, I did it as a favor to a co-worker. She had begun selling them and she and her sister both were having some success with the diet. I didn't research it much and just kind of impulsively dived in.

This time is different. I am jumping in to a new 'fad' diet...one that I have looked into. One that I have watched people have very visible success with. My cousin is selling it, several friends are selling it...several people that I know have lost 30 - 50 pounds in 3 to 6 month time frames. Get this...with.no.exercise. What is it you ask? Well, it is Plexus Slim. I am excited about trying it out. It came in the mail over the weekend. I started it today.

I am so tired of fighting the weight battle. I realize that I will struggle all of my life with it, especially with the way I love food! It's just so disheartening and hard on the confidence level when I don't feel like I look good...or when I just don't feel good in general. When I weigh more, my back hurts and my clothes make me feel pinned in and squishy. I hate to jiggle.

Last year, I had actually managed to lose 20 pounds just through diet and exercise. I was so proud of myself! I was at the lowest weight than I have been at in 3 years. But then I got a boob job plus a touch of liposuction. They said not to step on the scales for 6 weeks after surgery. Did I listen? NOPE. I weighed the next day. Just having the surgery put 17 pounds right back on me. They said it was water weight and fluid retention from the surgery, specifically the lipo. Except I am 6 months out and still carrying that 17 pounds. I have to wonder how much the implants actually increased my weight...supposed to only be 3 pounds. But for real, those 17 pounds...will.not.come.off. I really want to know what 'the girls' look like on me; without the extra padding!!!

So now, here I am again, ready to fight the battle...but this time I would really like to win the war.

Going Gray

or is it grey? I never know how to spell it, but however it should be spelled...I am doing it. Sadly. 35, and all of my new hair growth looks gray. It makes me a good mixture of sad and angry every.time.I.look in a mirror.

About 7 years ago, I started putting color on my hair. Naturally, I am a dark brown. Blah. I was red-headed as a child but it all darkened when I was a teenager. So, with my second divorce, I got a little wild and started slathering on the dye. Mostly, it has been chunked with three colors: straight bleach, mocha, and a very thin line of red. Heavy on the bleach usually.

This past couple of times at the salon, I did away with the bleach. I was just tired of it. And my poor hair. Oh, my poor hair was so damaged from it. I am two-toned now...red (really red) on top, and mocha underneath. I LOVE it! Sadly, and shockingly, the dark hair shows roots (and those roots are, yep, gray) much faster than the blonder look did. Seriously, within three weeks, I see roots. With the blonde, I would go nearly 3 months before I HAD to touch up...I am 5 weeks out now and just look...

It bothers me so much that I have begun trying new hairstyles to hide it from myself. I guess it bothers me now because it isn't just roots I am covering...it is me trying to mask the fact that I'm no spring chicken anymore. Sigh. 

Don't get me wrong, I definitely needed to find some new ways to do the 'do. I have been very tired of the straight side part. It's been good for me to have to branch out and try new things. Thank God for YouTube tutorials!

All that taken into consideration, I do NOT think that blondes have more fun...they just have less to worry about! So, I will probably be adding a few streaks (very, very thin) of blonde back in around my face to better hide that little stressor that I don't need! This is one shade of gray that is not desirable!

Expect the Unexpected

Snow...er ice...no, uh rain...errrrr some kind of day that we get to be home from school due to nasty weather. The area weather guys have been saying for several days that we would be having some form of winter weather this week. The local weathermen are never rarely right when predicting snow and/or ice for our area. Well, this time they sort of did. On Wednesday morning around 9:15, I thought I saw flurries outside of my classroom window. Hmm. Well okay. An hour later, it began to rain. Gross. At 11ish, it started to snow. Now, snow around here usually just swirls around and never touches the ground, but lo and behold, we get an announcement that our district will be dismissing at noon. Guess I'll take that without too much complaint. It meant that I would be able to be the one present for a major milestone for Lefty, when I really wasn't expecting to be. I have to wait until tomorrow to post about that though. Lefty says so.

That's some giant snowflakes right there!

While I was waiting for Lefty, it began to snow really hard. I just felt like I needed to go pick Boo up from school, which had not been dismissed early (I teach in a different district than the one they attend in). I went ahead and left to get her, and when we all got home, those dang snowflakes looked like snowballs falling from the sky! Boo thought she needed to attack them, but one pegged her in the eye. Dork.

No, she doesn't have a coat on. She had spent the night at her dad's and apparently he didn't think she needed to know it was supposed to snow. Genius.

Now, what you have to understand is that my school district doesn't just dismiss randomly for the possibility that the pretty white stuff swirling around might stick. Last month, it got bad enough that I couldn't drive my 2wd SUV home and had to have Chris drive the 30 minutes to pick me up with the 4wd. School never did dismiss; I had to use a half of a personal day. There were lots of accidents that day, so maybe that is why the decision was made early. Anyway, thank God that we were let out. It was only by His grace that I was able to follow my intuition and pick Boo up early. This is what happened to her school bus about 15 minutes away from our house.

Some of the girlies friends were on it when it happened. Seven children, aged 10 - 15, and the bus driver were involved. Three of those kids and the driver were transported to the ER for treatment of minor injuries. Lefty's best friend and best friend's brother were both transported, one with a deeply bruised shoulder and the other with a sprained/possibly fractured ankle. The other child treated had facial lacerations and the bus driver was complaining of back pain. Boo's very close friend blacked out at some point in the accident and has no recollection of the accident itself, but her parents declined treatment for her. All were released from the ER within  4 hours of transport, so the injuries were truly minor...at least the physical ones were. Why don't school buses have seatbelts for students? Why don't schools dismiss before the weather gets this treacherous? It was obviously getting nasty out there 2 hours before the accident occurred. I don't get it. The school released student drivers 30 minutes early, and all others 15 minutes before the final bell. Making up a partial day or even two or three full days is so trivial compared to what did happen and what could have happened. Needless to say, we are all home today. I guess in order to 'make up' for the lack of proactive choices yesterday, the girls' school district was the first in the state to cancel for today.

Thank God that He had His hand on my family and our friends yesterday. He has a plan for them. And He gave us another day to share together today and to enjoy these gorgeous (cold) sights...

Where Have You Been?

and what have you been doing??? I have been everywhere but on this blog!

I have seen more rainbows in the last month than I have in my entire life!

We have had serious drought conditions since May. September has brought us much more favorable weather...and the promise of better days to come!

One week this month, I saw at least one rainbow every single day. Insane!!! God was making me a promise that week...









I have spent time watching my precious girls do this...one as a Jr. High cheerleader, and the other a Sr. High. Where has the time gone? *tear*

Hubby and I put out the fall decor, which got me wanting homemade bread...so I made some. First. Time. Ever. and it was Y.U.M!!! must.make.more.soon.very.soon.

And finally, we are going to attempt to do a couple of craft shows next month. **serious nail biting here!** Therefore, I have spent pretty much all of my 'spare' time in the craft room, either crafting or cleaning or planning. Some of the results look a little like...

 OH...and I have been spending some time getting to know these sweeties!!!

12419

is how many days I have been alive. To further break that down for you, it is 297,840 hours. Mercy, that's a lot. Today is my 34th birthday. It's funny how bad 30 was for me...I cried every day for the entire week leading up to the big day, and didn't leave the house on the actual day, but once it was over I was good. Since then, birthdays haven't been a big deal. They never really were, except for that one. It makes me wonder how 35, 40, 45, and 50 will be. I would imagine 35 will be terrific, because I have every intention of getting to my ideal weight by then and being rewarded with a set of ta-tas! I have wanted to have them done for forever, but don't want to do it while I feel this way about myself. ANYWHO...enough of the rambling!

Yesterday, the cleaning lady was here, so the kids and I loaded up to let her do her thing. We got so much done: renewed my driver's license (yuck), stopped by AT&T, had lunch at a friend's coffee house (I should post about that neat little place later), hit up the print shop for some school copies (highway robbery at 0.75 per copy), got the girls' eyebrows done, went to the bank, then stopped at Hastings and Wal-Mart. While we were at Hastings, I was looking for specific children's books for my classroom. The kids all entertained themselves (or so I thought) while I scoured the bookshelves. I ended up finding 17 books for less than $100! Score!!! In the meantime, the herd had already made their purchases and were waiting on me at the door. Next was Wally-World. Ugh. My husband's company manufactures the push locks for the external doors for Wal-Mart, so they basically pay our bills and I should love them...but I certainly do not enjoy going there!!! Anyway, I had to pick up my contacts and then a few random things. I sent the posse on their way to destroy look at whatever they were going to destroy look at. Of course, once again, they all had purchases to make.

We got home, and they immediately barred me from the craft room. Apparently, those purchases were all birthday presents for me! Do I have sweet kids or what? Each one spent money they had been saving on their own. When Hubby got home from work, they made him take them AGAIN to buy a few more things. I tried to convince them that it would be just another day, but they were enjoying themselves too much. It's the first year that ALL of them have put thought into purchasing something for me individually, coming up with gifts on their own. It was so special! We went to dinner at the MIL's house...my favorite meal...spaghetti!!! Two plates later and a slice of key lime pie brought us back home for a movie and presents. We opened gifts last night because all four babies go to their other homes for the weekend today. Here is what they came up with...

All of their goodies for me! Totally lovin' the quilted bag that I will have my name embroidered on!

Close up of the owl The Boy drew for me (I love owlies! My classroom is covered in them!)

Owl contact case, freakin' adorable! Owlie key caps. oh. m. gee. And Hobby Lobby giftcard. 

Tomorrow, my Knight is taking me out per my birthday request to dinner and...to the *school supply store*! Hooray! 

*disclaimer* yes I know that this and my excitement about it completely classifies me as a nerd. I'm nerdly and I know it.

SAHM (only for the summer :-( )

When the girls were little, I was a stay-at-home-mom. I loved it. EVERY MINUTE. They were my life, and that is how I wanted it! I would give anything to be able to stay home again. To have dinner prepared more often than not; to have after school snacks ready; to be able to pick them up in the car rider line; to take them lunch on occasion; to not worry about who would get them where they need to go after school or to appointments; to be able to take care of wifely things that get neglected now; to be involved in community things and school groups; get my drift???

As it is now, we eat out during the school year more than we are at home for meals; the girls ride the bus or stay after school (with hopes that someone is able to bring them a snack); they eat sack lunches every day; doctor and dental appointments send me in a tizzy because I have a hard time finding someone to get them there for me when I can't get away from work (it doesn't help that I work 30 minutes out of town); the house stays a wreck except for the day after the cleaning lady comes (so one or two days every other week); I never get to stop by to visit Hubby at work or have lunch with him; PTO? What's that? I have hinted and asked, but no luck. Anywho...

So summertime is a tease for this SAHM wanna-be. I stay busy doing things with the kids and trying to get as many appointments in as possible so that I don't have to worry about them during the school year. For the month of July, we have Loo and The Boy, so that makes it extra fun. We have been trying to cook new foods, so each kiddo gets to choose a meal a week. Some of the things we have tried are...

French dip roll ups and poutine (steak fries drenched in gravy and topped with cheese)

Sweet and spicy bacon wrapped chicken with twice baked potatoes

Loaded baked potato pancakes

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad (served with burgers)

3 Cheese Chicken Penne, Green Bean Casserole, and Baked Zucchini Chips

Summertime pretend SAHM time also lets me get a lot of this done...

And it's never far from my thoughts that my time as a SAHM is just a dream and I have to get back to this...