Afterburn…
When last I left you, I was dragging my unhappy children to the Forest Preserve Trail to exercise for 3.6 miles. They bitched, they moaned, they whined, they sulked, they refused to move from the car…but once we started going they found new light and energy! It was like a miracle. Not really. But they were much happier after that.
We even managed to run 1.6 miles of the 3.6 total! Broke down in money-time (that’s how I was asked to explain it based on “quarter” miles, etc…) we ran $1.60 out of $3.60. And that’s pretty good for Mason’s third day and Stevie’s first. That’s one third of the trail!And Stevie managed to do it clomping around in K-Swiss court shoes. (We went and bought her some running-type shoes last night–and school supplies!–oh no, summer is almost over! Boohoo)
In case you are confused, we go around the whole thing, but we have been running every other ¼ mile to build endurance and burn more calories. Today we are going to use scooters. Well, the kids will scooter. I will run. Good for me (I get to do the whole thing now at a running pace) and good for them (they get to have their feet on the ground only half the time). Win win. I have to say, I recommend taking your kids with you to exercise whenever possible. It’s good for them and it builds respect for you. Seriously. I can’t tell you how many times my kids have said, “Oh whatever, I could run around that track no problem! What’s the big deal?” Now they are in awe because I CAN run around the whole thing. Without stopping! Oh yeah. It’s definitely the little things in life!
I got some other stuff for later, but I HAVE to go get my kids registered for school. And Mason has grass to cut. And we have another 3 ½ miles to burn.
Here’s a picture of the big finish for my little athletes. They look pretty good if I do say so myself!
Happy Birthday Amanda!!
It is Friday the 17 th! My sister’s official birthday! And I see we are reading this webpage a little more regularly now. Thank you! AND making comments. Thank you again!
So, I never got back here yesterday because normal people stuff takes up more time than I thought, which is probably why I don’t do it on a regular basis. But I payed the bills, bought some groceries, tidied up the house a bit…we even had an overnight guest (the kids friend). Next up is laundry—have to get that dang pile down, posting more exciting things from yesterday when I was out in the world (Dodge Challenger…oooh) and basically waiting for my sissy today to come over!
The plan is for her to come here. We are going to have as nice birthday dinner while we can still eat through our mouths and not the feeding tube they will have to put in along with the full body casts that they put on when you break every bone in your body doing some crazy athletic race-type event because you think it’s cool. Then we’ll leave at 5 in the morning tomorrow and prepare for an all liquid diet for the next month! Kidding, I’m sure. We are highly trained athletes. Used to extreme adventures and bad terrain. WE ARE WARRIORS!!
Here are some true excerpts from the e-mail we got:
Warriors,
Brace yourselves for the wildest 3.75 miles of your life, a battleground full of dangerous and insane obstacles! Warriors, prepare to battle.
That doesn’t seem to bad, right? Then it’s all blah, blah, details about packet pick-up, parking, etc… And then this:
Danger Warning
Please understand portions of Warrior Dash are truly extreme – your best judgment and respect for every participant is expected and appreciated.
This is no joke: there really will be fire, swamps, extreme hills, etc. We urge you to take special caution when entering the forest immediately before Splintering Spools because the hill is extremely steep (too steep to run down) and there’s limestone jutting out of the hill in several areas.
Excuse me, while I go poo in my pants. “Splintering” spools doesn’t sound too bad, you know, splinters in my knees and hands maybe…unless it’s like giant shards of wood sticking out…It’s the “steep hill” and “jutting limestone” that concerns me. I would like to NOT crack my skull open on a piece of extreme rock. Fire, swamps…I guess if I’m wet already I can’t technically catch on fire right??
At any rate, I’m getting a stomach ache thinking about it!
So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER!! We are going to have SO much fun tomorrow!! I’ll make sure Mom gets us a room at the hospital together!!
Here are some flowers from my front wildflower landscape thing I tried to create! Aren’t they pretty? Won’t they be soothing to look at through giant, swollen, teary, puffy, black and blue eyes?? Ha.
For all you other folks who can only imagine…check out the web here for the actual event,
And here for the Face Book Link.
I don’t have it but some of the comments are funny.
Here’s your pictures Amanda! Happy B-day! Love, Me!
Can you say…loser?!?
Or winner?!? Hmmm…Despite the fact that I have no time to post anything that my loyal fans want to read…Sorry people…school HAS to come first. I need a job with a good future and a good paycheck and that gives me the feeling that I am actually making a difference in the world!
Beyond the new windows—pictures in a few!!!!!—and the laundry and the kids coming home, then leaving, then coming home again, then babysitting nieces and nephews, then cleaning up the window mess and re-painting…I still had time for some POCKET POKER!
Oh yeah. I am the queen of the hand-held video gamer. I pretend I am in Vegas, and I just go for broke!
Broke for me at the moment is 600 points! Please refer back to the previous post, weeks ago when I broke 500. I achieved this chance success with a few Four-of-a-Kinds and one Straight Flush.
I am on the trail of the elusive Royal Flush. 3000 points!
I have only gotten it one time in the history of my playing. Before the long break when I lost it.
I have to go take a shower now because we have to re-caulk the tub and it will be unavailable for 24 hours.
Enjoy the picture below and stay tuned for more later! I’m halfway done with the studying…reading a butt load of chapters is next but I can squeeze in computer time!
Second Nursing Book Ya’ll!!!
Here it is my second week into the “program”, and I have my second book!! Maybe not everyone is excited about spending money for books and school, but I am just excited as Hell!
I don’t mean to say that the money doesn’t give me a heart attack, because it does—these books ARE NOT cheap. BUT, they say you use them for 2 years and you will continue to use them throughout your life, so I say it’s a worthy investment in MY future. And yours too, actually.You WANT me to be smart and up to date right?? No one wants to be at the hospital getting procedures done in garden gloves using a pen case.
I don’t want to go on and on, and soon I won’t have the time for it anyhow…but I am really happy for the opportunity I am about to embark on…learning to give YOU an enema! And, you, a Catheter! I will be begging for the days of sponge baths and linen changes!
The book I just bought is Basic Nursing. It’s exciting and scary at the same time. I know I keep using that word…Exciting! I am anxious to learn but a bit nervous too. I love flipping through the text, and imagining how much more I’ll know in 6 months. And then how much MORE in the next 6. And in 6 after that…It’s cool, and I’m ready. The book is here next to me, just like the first, and I guess it really won’t EVER be leaving my side. (One more time…exciting! That will be the last for today, I promise–here, anyway)
But I have alot more to do today. So, changing tracks…I have to go get groceries…woohoo…for you sissy…I’ll spare ya’ the list though.
As some of you may or may not know, we’re having a grad party here Saturday for my niece. 8th grade! High school is next. Party is here and I need some stuff, plus the kids have just 3 stinking days left of school, but I’m out of lunch material…so close.
I need to exercise sometime…still have training to do and that whole 20 pound thing I set for myself…plus I need to modify my diet for fatness, sickness and zitty rashness. Let me explain. The fatness, pretty much is what it says. Cut out the foods that are making me fat, I’m talking to you Fuddruckers and Pizza—adds pounds AND as a bonus that apparently comes with the new age bracket I’m about to enter…these foods make me SICK. Literally. Heartburn, indigestion, sweaty, crampy, bloaty, gassy, dizzy and nauseous. I WISH I was exaggerating. I NEVER used to get sick from food or have heartburn or gas or any of that, and I was pregnant twice with no ill effects (believe me, I know how lucky I was).
For a laugh–now–check this post out–yuk. Never doing that again!!
The last part is this new zitty rashy thing I have going, but just sometimes. I noticed it after I switched my diet from regular fast food/junk to Body For Life. Healthy, carb-protein balance, whole grains, low-fat, etc…Lost the weight but gained a red, rashy, itchy area on my face. Looks like acne accelerated. Never had a problem before. I narrowed it down to wheat products. Not severe or anything, but just annoying enough that I knew something was up. Extreme Fat Smash really zeroed in on the prob. Follow it exactly and it’s mostly vegetarian. Salad, Yogurt, Beans and RICE. That’s key. I have no trouble with rice, it’s the bread, pasta, cracker, wheat/flour based stuff that seems to give me the itches. So, long story longer. I am in my second day of trying to avoid ALL wheat products to eat. So far, so good. It’s harder than you think. I can get away with, like one sandwich, or one thing like pizza crust, but after that, the area right around my nostril starts itching and then right along my frown lines—for reference–I really don’t HAVE wrinkles and lines and all that—wimper–that’s just where the itching would be…oh forget it…you know, it itches and gets red and it looks like I have a rash around my mouth area on the cheeks. I’ve eliminated topical things like makeup and soap. Same products for years no change. It has to be the food. So big whoop anyway. I don’t need to eat all that stuff. It’s too many calories, and as we all know (see above) I don’t know when to stop!
My sympathies and extreme RESPECT to all you moms or dads or brothers/sisters/grands/selves…whoever…who HAVE to be so cautious and avoid even specks of wheat or it could be illness for weeks or death. You have a hard path to follow and one day I hope it won’t be an issue anymore for anyone. It’s just amazing that food for life can be inherently threatening. And all I’m worried about is a rash.
Anyway, my point was to be funny and end on the note that while I was typing this I was eating my weight in scrambled eggs. Just eggs and milk in butter with a little cheese. I add all the ingredients so I know what’s in it. And now I have to go work it off. (At the store–remember about 5 paragraphs ago?–I talk way too much)
So that’s it, let me get out before the kids come home. I’m sure something MORE boring and mind-numbing will occur and I can spend another hour typing later. Just you wait!
Meanwhile, enjoy these pictures of a Bulldog they had at the pet store. If we were going to get a dog, this breed was the one we all unanimously agreed on. And here was one for sale! Impulse purchase! I told my son, if this particular dog was UNDER $1000, I would buy him on the spot. I don’t know why. Can’t afford it, don’t want to train it, but I felt at that moment I would. I would do everything that I had to….they must have been pumping something into the air that day…but we checked and ultimately went home empty handed. Hopefully someone with more disposable income gave him a home. He really was adorable.
And fyi–You know I’m gonna tell you—that dog cost $3299. Yes. THREE THOUSAND, three hundred.
Today is the day!
It’s Friday. It’s beautiful. The sun was shining through my children’s window in such a way that it makes you feel like everything will be ok.
Not to say that anything is bad…it’s just that kind of day. If you can’t take the sap this early, I understand. Check back later for the post about my Wednesday Church experience. No cheese included. That’s kind of weirdly ionic huh? Sun=Peace. Church=No peace.
Back to today:
I found a dime, walking the kids to school (separate post).
I took a shower, fresh shampoo, fresh soap, fresh fragrance…I feel really clean, like, squeaky clean, AND I used a new deodorant that smells like Florida! The good Florida. Beachy, sunny, oceany, sexy southern sultry, steam off the street…man I miss that place…
Anyway, I’m posting a bit, catching up. Update the daily life and what I’m doing. I’ve been busy with actual out-of-the-house stuff. Had to get more school related paperwork, make 10 different appointments for body checks, myself and the kiddies, run to the drug store for cards and snacks and special lunch for my daughter who has 5th grade picnic, take the boyfriends mom to the doc, pick up prescriptions, take the mom back to the doc, talk to my mom, my sis, my niece, my ex, my exes ex….you know, just stuff.
One school year ends, another begins. My son is going into 6th grade! Jr. High! So exciting. He’s visiting the school today to see how it looks, get a feel for lockers, and changing classes, and being a teenager. Then he gets to have Basketball Pizza Party after school. Still no trophies though. He says Tuesday. I haven’t forgotten. I have the post all ready, just need to throw in the pictures. I know every single one of you is dying to see those Bowling and Basketball trophies. Stay tuned!
I have one more doc trip with the BF mom’s today at noonish, then I can hit the trail and wait for my daughter to get home.
I have to run, even though I’m plodding out there like a hippo in the heat. It’s pathetic. It feels pathetic. Every step, I just want to stop. But now I have to go to the doc’s this Monday and I don’t want to weigh too much. If you are still following my, “Lose 20 lbs. by Warrior Dash” extravaganza, here’s the update: I have to lose 2 pounds just to get down to the original weight I wanted to lose 20 from. So I’m working on that, but nature is battling against me. It’s like the perfect storm of weight gain. Natures gift wreaking havoc, bad dinners, late nights, early mornings…It sucks. I have to stop eating and try to live on coffee and breath mints until Monday for my “fake weight” at the doc’s, and then work on the real thing next week. I know, I know, It’s not healthy, it’s not a good example, but who cares. Those medical records follow you around FOREVER! I can’t be overweight every single time! It’s soul crushing! The good thing is that I am actually about 20+ lbs. down from the last time I was there, so it still looks good, but for my personal self and all you people—still too heavy. Plus, I can’t be running around an obstacle course with flabby arms and a weak belly. I want to look all cut and sexy covered in mud and sweat and swamp water. Wouldn’t you?
Now that I’ve really sidetracked…let’s see…the BF is playing Poker with the buds later, so dinner is all me and the kids. So how many people out there think it’s going to be chicken breast and brown rice. Uh huh. More like Taco Bell and Baskin Robbins…see what I’m up against? I guess I’ll just eat and throw up. Not. Please check the following post about that BAD IDEA. I just tell myself, don’t eat THAT much. Am I a F…ing idiot??? Sometimes.
I’m so far behind here. Let me wrap this up. School, Exercise, Posting, Dinner, Weekend Parties, Movies, Popcorn, Ice Cream…that sound about right.
Church post, Flower post, Money post, Mason New Toy Post, Cool Word, Quote, and Music List.
No trophies, no weight loss.
Pictures WILL be included.
Chicago is sunny and 70. It really is a beautiful day.
Check back here later for a laugh or two, but get outside if you can.
Later gators!
Hey, If Glamour Magazine says it’s OK….
Then, I’m WAY-ayyyy…. ahead of the curve.
And it’s my new tagline for the Yearly Update Page. Check here for the totals!
Street Money Update!
It pays to exercise! About 5¢ every few months. It’s good for other stuff too…like your heart, your brain, your BIG butt…
Found a wore out nickel on the side of the running trail yesterday afternoon exercising with the BF.
(We later spent it on White Castles, but let’s just keep that our little secret)
Check here for the yearly total.
And check back later, when I post a pep-talk article from the Glamour Magazine about this very subject.
I have to do some personal hygiene stuff right now while the BF is out playing raquetball. We have another kid-less night to look forward to and I wanna be ready. Winky dink.
Street Money Update!
It’s not much. Hardly worth the post, but like I always say, “EVERY PENNY COUNTS”.
And it does. One more cent to the list!
Street Money Update!
I found a quarter! I found a quarter!
Let’s go with:
On the ground in the library parking lot while I was returning a book this morning and NOT at the McDonald’s drive-thru.
Shame shame shame….I know. I feel terrible.
I should have waited for the library to open and returned the book to the desk because I owe late fines. Bad Girl!
Click $$$$$$ for the year total so far.
Street Money Update…on the Front Page!
In order to generate more interest in my craziness, or help you skip the post faster…I am putting the Street Money Updates on the front page too!!
Oh, I know…you are welcome!
All 10 of you out there haven’t been asking, but I’m just doing it anyway. PLUS…we had two exciting breakthroughs.
One: We broke the 10 buck barrier! Made it in just under May.
And number two: The boyfriend finally succumbed to our kooky will and picked up some stray money right off the ground!
(Special note to the BF: Now you will never escape! …hahahaha)
Anyway, I’ll still keep the separate page, because I like to have a fast spot to just throw it in when I am lazy, but now I can make witty comments and post it for all my fans so that you can have something funny to read and get you thru your day! But don’t bother today, checking both places, because I used the same hilarity. Why think of 2 funny things when I can just use one? Save it for the next time. It’s a limited resource people…as my family will gladly tell you.
Have a great day and when you are out walking around…LOOK DOWN!! (occasionally…to look for money…get it?…but look back up too because you don’t want to get hurt or walk into something…) Oh the jokes…
2009 Current Count (as of 4/29/09) : $10.24 (Broke the 10 dollar barrier!)
Found alot last night out and about. I didn’t find any. But my family did! Grand total: 53¢
By person:
Mason: 5¢
Stevie: 38¢ (she was working it! she was searching)
But the big news is the boyfriend! Making his first appearance in the Street Money page, after 4 years of our madness, he picked up…loose change! Off the ground in a parking lot sometime during his day! HA! We got him! It was only a dime, but that’s how it starts…(please laugh your most evil laugh…NOW!) Bwah hah hah….
Boyfriend: 10¢
just shy of pretty 