A new bundle of joy...

After a long day of waiting, Katie's precious little Isabella Marie joined us on St. Patty's Day at 7:31pm. She's 6lbs, 10oz and 19 inches long. And so darn cute!!! I have a really cute pic of me and Izzie but I'm wearing my work shirt and let's face it kids - I'm not really up for sharing that info you know? And I don't want to post a pic of her without Kt's consent so just know that she's so durned cute and I can't wait for her to start talking. Should be any day now, she's just that smart. haha

Can I just say....KT was such a trooper through her labor?! OMG!! No complaints, no cursing, no nothing! She was SO strong!! I am so proud of my BFF!!!

I had a dream last night that I had a baby girl of my own - wonder what that means? Let's just hope that it's not my future k? Not sure I'm what you'd call "maternal". In my dream I was, but hey...I'm not really ready to test that theory. Guess I'll just live vicariously through my buddy!!

Welcome Izz Girl!!! We'll be teaching you how to throw a softball soon! Never can start too early! :)

Any resolutions?

So has anyone decided on formalizing a New Years resolution? I love this time of year, especially at Weight.Watchers and my gym. At WW, the room is full of people who have decided, "that's it, I'm doing something about my weight!" and at the gym, all the machines are busy, people are motivated and there is this buzz flowing all around. While I dislike how busy it gets, I know that it will be about a month and that will end, us regulars will still be plugging away at our fitness routines.

Talking about the gym brings me to another subject: nakedness in the women's locker room. Why is it, that when I am having a conversation with you, that you must whip off your shirt (I can handle that) and then whip off your sports bra? HEY LADY...YOUR BOOBS ARE IN MY FACE. Can you just turn around for crying out loud? If one of my friends did that to me, I'd tell them to turn around, I don't wanna stare at your boobies, GOSH. But twice last week, with two different women I was having a nice conversation with, this happened. lol....I have to admit, I'm a little envious that they are so free and open. I am not like that at all. Maybe when I'm finally confident about my body, I'll be able to whip off my shirt and talk shirtless to some random girl in the locker room. Ah...but not anytime soon. Cause it creeps me out when others do it to me. So back off shirtless lady! And I can't help but mention the other lady who gets totally naked when she's done working out, takes a shower, walks around totally naked and then gets her big thing of baby powder out. Oh, and that's after she walks over to the scale to weigh herself. You know what I feel like doing? Two things, handing her a towel and also some shave cream and a razor. It's 2009 lady, noone has a big hairy bush like that anymore. Shave that jungle! LMAO!! Oh and before you go thinking to yourself "then why do you look?"....I will defend myself by saying....how can you not look? It's like driving past an accident and not looking. Doesn't happen.

And those are my thoughts for the day. :)~

Update on my Dad Dad Daddio

After 4 days of being in the hospital (yes my dad spent New Years Eve/Day cooped up in there!), my dad was released back home. For a scary couple of days, we thought he might have MRSA (think really super bad virus that's really hard to figure out how to fight with antibiotics). Turns out he has a staph (sp?) infection. His finger looks pretty gross and hurts to touch it. So there isn't much of that! He also had a pick-line installed, so that for the next 4-6 weeks, he'll go to the hospital for daily doses of antibiotics to treat the infection he's got.

So much for the safety pin and duct tape method (most farmers use those two items to fix anything, trust me).

He'll be back to work on Monday, although his doctors aren't really amped up and excited to allow that to happen. All I know is, I'm glad he's doing better! It's hard to watch someone who is rarely sick like that. One good thing that happened though is, I got to spend more time with my dad in the past few days than I have in a long time. It was nice :)

Well crap.

So my mom calls me at work today, and she never does that so I immediately think there is something wrong. And yes, there is something wrong.

My Dad got a cyst removed from his left ring finger a week or so ago. He warned me that it was pretty gross, but of course I made him show me. He was right...totally nasty. I figured that was the end of it. But today, Mom called and told me he's going to the hospital tomorrow (Tuesday) to get surgery on that same finger - because there seems to be some kind of bad infection and it is hurting him so bad, he went home from work. That's pretty bad, him leaving work. The man never leaves unless it is required (i.e., going home for the night, my heart surgeries, etc.) So I knew this was gonna be bad.

So here's the gory details: tomorrow he'll be put under into never never land, they'll remove (ick!) his nail, and then slice open his finger to relieve the pressure and find out what the dealio is. As he put it, "worst case scenario, they cut it off". Good golly Miss Molly, I would say that is pretty effing serious!! I could tell he was in pain though when he was on the phone with me tonight.

So please say a prayer for my Daddy tomorrow, he should be having surgery right around lunchtime or so.

Thanks!!

RAK

Merry Christmas everyone! I must say that I am truly blessed with friends who care about me, two jobs that provide for me, a car to drive me around, a cell phone and computer to keep me in touch with the technological world, ah...the list goes on.

Some people don't have any of that. Kinda blunt eh? In my line of not-so-fun-all-the-time work, I get to talk to those people. The ones who have lost their job, the ones who have been living off their unemployment for the past weeks, months, maybe over a year. The ones who have been searching for a job, only to find out that there were 350 others in front of them applying for the same job. The ones who have children and have to figure out if they'll even be able to buy gifts for Christmas. The ones who didn't get Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner because they couldn't afford it. You know what, I could go on and on about this too.

I guess what I'm getting at is, there are people who are in need right now and you can help them. Whether it is a kind word or maybe a bag full of groceries - that is your choice. Do what your gut (and God) is pushing you to do. Try practicing RAK for a day. RAK is a Random Act of Kindness. It is simply amazing what happens. Let me know what your experience is when you try it. I can't wait to hear all about it!

Hi :)

So I haven't been here in a while, it's almost Christmas and the end of 2008 is near. Since the wedding in November, I'm happy to report that I'm actually sleeping again. Thank GOD. I still have no results from my doctor, but I'm thinking that I must have been pretty anxious about that whole thing (the wedding) because I'm not kidding, the next night after the wedding? Slept like a baby. And I have ever since then.

Had the annual Christmas party for my mom's side of the family this past weekend. It was nice, but a whole different vibe than what we normally have. It was weird. Was nice to see everyone - in fact some of them I only see once a year so it's nice to catch up. I remember in the past we had some pretty volatile parties - people getting into fist fights, verbal abuse - apparently people are either self-medicating or they've just finally grown up and forgiven/forgotten the problems they had with each other. Personally, I think it's a bit of all that.

I've made a decision to not quit the 2nd job. In this economy, I am very thankful to even have a job, let alone two. I'm going to pay off my debt and then I'll think about quitting. The way I figure it, I'll have all my unsecured debt paid off by 2010.

Ever read the book called "The Secret?" If not, check it out. Positive thoughts equal positive reactions/things in your life. For example, if you say, "oh my gosh - I'll NEVER pay my debt off" - then you won't. You will continue to rack up the credit cards. If you say, "I'm going to pay off my debt" then it will happen. It's the law of attraction. I really like that book.

I only work 3 days this week at my "real" job. I wish we could go to work in our pajama pants and slippers!

Wow...it's finally over

The big day finally came - the wedding I've been preparing for all these months. Well the bride was preparing too, don't get me wrong, but I've been working out, dieting, helping her plan and get ready for her big day too. A few of you know the trials and tribulations I went through up to this point. For those of you who don't, well...I'd rather not bring up old negative shit. So...the day started out by raining...downpour raining - coming from the North. Water was leaking inside of my home. That set me off. Then I forgot to go to Weight Watchers. How the hell can I forget to do something that important? That's not like me! I get my hair done, hoping and praying that it'll actually stay the way my girl does it, due to the rain. As you can see from the picture, it stayed. The bride was absolutely gorgeous, the groom was very handsome and neither of them cried during their vows. Their love for one another is very strong. I'm so excited for them! I, on the other hand, had to drink two glasses of wine to take the edge off before walking down the aisle. I just gotta say - it worked. I ended up drinking way too much and letting loose. I love when I get to do that. I'm too damn serious most days! I woke up today with a hangover, and should've taken a nap, but I didn't. Tomorrow I go back to work after a week long holiday. Sniff Sniff...

A Letter, By Annette

Dear Grouchy Lady that I saw in a store at the mall tonight,

You are very grouchy. Quite possibly the grouchiest lady I've seen/heard/been around for quite some time. You stood in line for mere seconds when the girl behind the counter asked if she could help you. Unfortunately for the girl, she had no idea that you were beyond help she could offer. Hell, I think even Dr. Phil would've turned and ran. You know who I think may have been able to help you? Sorry, I don't know either. Because you were that rude. And yes, I had to "butt in" as you stated, because I couldn't stand to see the girl behind the counter sobbing and crying any longer. Because noone deserves to be treated the way you treated her. And then, when I called you out on it, you turned on me! I get that you were being defensive. I get that you probably will go home and never think for a second that you were rude, pushy, argumentative, and downright mean to us. But my hope is.....that you will go home, unwind from the day, reflect on your behavior and feel just the slightest bit of guilt, knowing that you were as horrible as you were. And maybe, just maybe, the next time you feel the need for your demon to arise out of the depths of your soul, you'll remember telling the girl off, me off, the manager off and you'll make a different decision.

Because it's all about choices isn't it?

Let's hope you make a better one next time around. I know the decision I made tonight to butt in and stick up for that girl was the right one. You stupid, under-sexed, grouchy ass bitch who probably forgot to change her underwear this morning and realized it in the dressing room when you saw the brown streaks in your granny baps (big ass panties). You're probably constipated too, and most likely needed a smoke. A smoke I'm sure you had, with the windows rolled up and your kid in the back seat inhaling.

Sincerely,

Annette

So I'm lazy...

I know I know....I haven't posted in forever! Sorry!


Here's a pic of me & my friend Theresa - she's got that pregnancy glow doesn't she? She's gorgeous! This was at a wedding a couple of weeks ago. I am NOT crazy about the shirt I wore. Oh well, damage done...won't wear that again!

I had a birthday on October 10th. Turned 34. And that's where my story kind of begins...

I went for a routine cardio-echogram at my cardiologist's office a couple of weeks ago. The pulmonary arterial pressure came back a tad high, so my doctor (who is the BEST doctor in the world..at least to me he is) suggested we do a "right heart cath" procedure - in which they insert a catheter starting at my groin and leading up to my heart. There they will test the pressure and find out if there was a problem. So, I did that yesterday. Can you believe two things: 1) I am sitting here after a long day of work typing about this? and 2) I was awake for the entire procedure. Felt the catheter go in my leg and felt it in my heart. I know! I'm grossed out too! I must say, on Friday, I sorta lost it and I was very scared/nervous about the procedure. A lot of people must have been praying for me, because on the day of the procedure, I was cool as a cucumber. Went in, got delayed for about 2.5 hours and finally got back into the procedure room. Carried on a conversation with the nurses and Dr. the whole time they were testing me, and went home about 2 hours later. Went to work today. Simply amazing.

So the results given to me were that the pressure is reading a tad high,but nothing DIET can't fix. Bah. Lose weight. Bah. I already tried that, it's too slow of a process for crying out loud! But, I will continue on I suppose. I did tell my Dr. that I do work out very regularly and that I am trying to lose weight. His response, "keep doing that then". Bah.

I get a sleep study out of this though too, because I have horrible insomnia. Some nights I'll fall asleep and get up several times. Some nights I can't fall asleep for hours, only to be woken up from a very sleepless night and have to get up and go. Dr. thinks that this could be part of the pressure issue. Get the sleeping under control, blood pressure and arterial pressure might go away. Can't say I'll get many dates out of this (I'm fast forwarding here - I can envision the fact that I might need to wear a damn mask to bed), but maybe I'll be able to stop taking meds. All in good time, that sleep study isn't until the 17th.

Volleyball has started, I've got several weddings to attend and one to stand up in. A bachelorette party has been unceremoniously dumped into my lap (and lemme tell ya, I will plan the BEST bachelorette party EVARRRR for my girl!!), still working 2 jobs, going on a cruise in January, won our Fall softball division (undefeated...woot woot), both of my close friends are pregnant, I'm talking to an old friend (hi Nick) that I've been missing for a long time and I'm just trying to remain positive through it all. Busy, but I like it that way. Sorry for the non-posting, I wonder if anyone will even look at this because I'm so bad about updates? If you're out there reading, please leave a comment, just tell me you haven't given up on me yet!

Where does the time go anyway?

I really do have good intentions of getting online and posting something witty for you all to read on a consistent basis. I do! Ladies and Gentlemen, at this time I will attempt to post a blog that will entertain you on the happening things in my life. Ready? Set? Go....

I started Weight.Watchers about 3 weeks ago. I've lost every single week, so I'm up to 6.75 pounds lost. It is a small victory, to say the least. I went out to dinner with one of my dearest friends on Thursday that I rarely get to spend time with and we went to the Olive.Garden. Have you ever gone to a restaurant and asked for their nutritional guide? I got a brochure that night. My guess is that the rest of the items on their menu are so high in calories and fat, they could not bear to actually put it in print, so they just said....nah skip it. I really wanted to order something draped in a block of mozzarella cheese, but opted for...drum roll...because this is sooo exciting people......minestrone soup (on the guide, low in calories), whole wheat linguini and marinara sauce. One breadstick and two meatballs. I then proceeded to eat half of the actual dinner and box the rest up. There is only one reason I didn't eat all of it - because I knew on Saturday, I'd need to weigh in. I guess that paid off since I lost 2.75 pounds this week, but wow, what a disappointing meal. The food was good, but my brain wanted something different.

I've joined a "Fall Ball" coed softball team. So far we are 2-0! Woo Hoo!!! I have a great time with those people, and we've all played together for so long, we know each others abilities and limits. I'm so glad I have the opportunity to play.

I recruited a superstar volleyball team too. Our games start in October on Thursday nights. Last year, you may remember me crying about the fact that our team was so crappy. The thing is, noone likes to be on a losing team. So, in the hopes I don't lose any friendships, I recruited a group of women who are competitive and bloodthirsty (haha, that kinda sounds rough doesn't it) and needless to say, I've decreased our total team from 18 or so...to 8. We're all very competitive too, so I'm looking forward to our matches.

I'll check in later this week - I'm sure I'll have lots more to talk about...like my bra party...now doesn't THAT sound intriguing?!

You know you're from Port Huron if...

So the other day, I go to my fav grocery store, pop my MP3 player on (yes, I am one of "those" people - I listen to my MP3 player while shopping - who am I gonna talk to in there anyways?) and start browsing up and down the aisles, carefully considering my purchases, wondering if I should buy that candy. No, then yes, then no...then finally yes...hahaha. Diet starts again on Monday I swear! That dress isn't gonna fit!! Anyways...I'm walking down the pasta aisle, my very favorite aisle of all aisles and BAM. This is the defining moment - the one that makes you stop and wonder, what the heck is SHE thinking? Down my aisle comes another female shopper - in her bathing suit. A tankini, with a skirt. And flip flops. And her body type was as big, if not maybe a little bigger than mine. GIRLFRIEND....do you have no shame? Who told you it was okay to wear your bathing suit into the grocery store? For crying out loud! Put a shirt and shorts on, is it that hard?

Does this happen everywhere else, or am I just blessed to run into it in the Port? Do tell...

Long lost pals...

Here's a pic of me and my good friend Jeanne. We finally reconnected after a long time through email and today we had the opportunity to go to lunch together. Before we knew it, 2 hours had flown by. I have missed you so much J!!

If you have the chance to reconnect with someone from your past, don't hesitate. Life is too short to keep saying, "I'll get to it." As the Nike ads say, Just Do It!!

Weekend Update

So I worked on Friday at both jobs, started at 8am and ended my night right around 12:30AMish. Yep, I was exhausted. My legs and feet started hurting right around 7PM. I looked at my watch and thought....omg...I have another FIVE hours of this. I keep telling myself...just a little bit longer, and I'll be back down to one job. The good news is, I only have about $287 more on the carpet/tile bill that started this two job debacle. Out of $5,000 and 1 year of sacrifice, I'd say $287 ROCKS.

Saturday I was woken up way too early to go to breakfast by Mike (old friend from high school). So KT, Mike and I went to eat, I had two cups of coffee (I rarely drink coffee so this was kinda a big deal, but I HAD to clear the cobwebs out of my brain somehow!) and then KT and I went garage sale-ing. What a beautiful day to make that happen. Then I headed over to a graduation party for my friend's kid, stayed for about 20 minutes and headed over to my family reunion. I am kind of traumatized by the graduation party, I'm not sure I can even talk about it right now. What I will say is, I can't believe the relationship with this friend of mine went from what is was, to what it is now. It is amazing and sad.

So onto better things, my Family Reunion. I rarely see this side of my family, so it was nice to catch up with people that I don't normally talk to. I got to see Jen *you look fabulous girl*, Alida *she has this giggle that makes me crack up*, Julie & Megs *see Julie, I DO like you, I even mentioned you in this first-rate blog*, some other cousins and their families, aunts, uncles. I had to pleasure of talking with Great Aunt (pronounced "AW-NT") Claire and Great Uncle Jack from Wisconsin. I forgot how much I really enjoy their company. She is eccentric and sassy and wonderful. He has a witty personality. We celebrated my Great Uncle Ernie's 80th birthday, had him blow out candles too! I also ate WAY too much and I wouldn't have it any other way. After the rain subsided, we started the gigantic bonfire. We saw several rainbows (I'd like to think that the rainbows symbolized our loved ones who have passed) and reminisced and shared a lot of laughs. One thing I will mention about the bonfire - I don't think my father knows how to build a small bonfire. Multiply that mentality by about 6 other men who share the same belief and POOF, you have the largest bonfire in St. Clair County. I'm glad my older brother is part of the Fire/Rescue team and we have "connections". hahaha

So today (Sunday), I'm supposed to have a playoff softball game around 6:30pm, but since it's been raining most of the day, I wonder if that will happen. If not, KT and I will be headed over to the movie theater. For now, as soon as I finish this blog post, I'll be wrapping up in a blanket on the couch and watching TV. Because you see, I rarely get down time like this and I need to take FULL advantage of it.

TTFN~

Sure does feel good....

Tonight we had another two-game softball night and WON both of the games!! Woot woot....your girl hit the ball and got 3 RBI's (runs batted in) out of it.

I still got it *winker*

Not just yet...

Kinda weird - tonight "he" went with me and my two other friends (a couple) to watch a softball game and then we all went for a bike ride. Not ready to let my guard down just yet.

Oops!

Wow, time flies, I tell ya. Here's the scoop on me:

MRI: Came back fine, no brain cancer. ENT thinks I might have TMJ (my jaw cracks when I open it) so he sent me to the dentist. Dentist doesn't think it's a major TMJ issue, she recommended getting fitted for a biteguard to wear "whenever I can". Wow, sexy. Ringing in ears is still happening. Lucky me!

Diet: Non-existent. Ok, all hope is not lost, I am still kind of watching what I eat, but not as closely. My cousin Jennifer is doing FABULOUS and she gives me motivation. I just need to focus!

Exercise: Doing well. At least something remains constant in this battle of the bulge!

Vacation: Went to Oscoda last week camping and canoeing. I got totally wasted drunk while canoeing, fell out several times and peed in the water.....alot. It was lots of fun. I went camping with 13 others - all of whom had their partner there...I was the odd wo-man out. That part totally sucked. I really disliked being the "13th wheel" and lucky for me, there was one nice couple I could hang out with that wasn't busy playing kissy-face all week.

The Man Front: Well, it appears that there may be a certain someone interested in me! I am nervous about this, not sure what to think, how to act, what to say. I guess I'll just go with the flow for now. KT can vouch that he is a nice guy, cute, taller than me (big plus!!), considerate, funny. Not my usual "type" - he has no interest in the gym and no interest in sports, which means he doesn't watch baseball (gasp). He is interested in motorcycles and snowmobiles, and so am I. So I guess we'll see where this leads. Heck it might not even go anywhere, but a few of my friends who have seen us together think that we'll hook up. We shall see!

MRI

So tonight at 9:15pm (can you believe they take patients until 11:45PM?!) I headed over to the hospital to get an MRI on my head. Yes people, they're checking to see what's wrong in my head...lol....anyways - I didn't really know what to expect, I purposefully did not ask many questions because sometimes, it's just not worth it to know exactly what you're in for. Know what I mean? I figured, "shoot...I had heart surgery, this'll be no problem." Ummm. If I never have to take a test like that in the future, I won't be upset. Let me tell you why:

1.) I was sure that I couldn't fit into that little opening, in fact, I even questioned it. The nurse looked at me, laughed and said, oh you'll be fine, you'll fit! Lemme tell ya, there wasn't much room! How do bigger people get MRI's anyways? If I was a little bigger, probably wouldn't have fit.

2.) When your ears are plugged with ear plugs, plus a cushion on both sides that was pretty thick and you can still hear the machine pretty clearly - you know it must be loud!

3.) When your eyes are shut and you can see blue, green and yellow images, I'm not sure what that's all about, but it can't be good.

4.) When they inject this dye into your arm and you immediately smell something odd, somethin ain't right.

5.) When you get out of the testing area and notice that your vein is bulging where they injected that dye, it makes a person wonder. Come to think of it, where does the dye go? Do I pee it out? If so, what color will it be when it comes out? My friend told m the dye is purple and I think it would be totally cool to pee purple since it would match my brand new cell phone that is...the color purple.

A cool thing though, is that I got the copies of all the films they made. So of course when I got home, I had to pull them out and start self-diagnosing my brain scan. Only I don't really know what I'm looking for, except for the scans I see on House on TV. So according to those, I'm good. Must be TMJ that's causing the incessant, non-stop ringing that never ever ever ever goes away.

So that's it! That's my update! More info to follow once I talk to the doctor again in about a week or so. Happy 4th of July!

The latest...

Another week has flown by and we're almost into July. Un-be-reavable, as Scooby Doo would say. I thought I'd spend some time writing tonight, since I have roughly an hour of time to kill since I've begun the teeth whitening process. I've got two trays of gel that are working their magic in my mouth as I type. I hope noone calls because I'm pretty sure it will be impossible for me to answer. Anywho...here's the latest and greatest on me.

Remember I talked about the jerks who asked what was wrong with me because I'm single, 33 and no kids? Well, I've got two MORE comments to share with you. Yes people, both these comments happened within the past week. How lucky can a girl get? The first was in regards to a coworker's friend, inquiring about the single girls she works with, "Set me up with someone from your work"...that kind of situation. She mentioned my name and he promptly replied with, "I don't want to date someone that can benchpress more than I can.". Yes, she shared this with me. No, she did not take her smart pill that morning. She'd probably blamed it on the upcoming pregnancy since she blames everything else on that too. I said to her, "wow, nice fat joke" and she responded with, "no Annette, he's intimidated by the fact that you go to the gym so much and you probably can bench press more than he can!" Okay, I'm not stupid. I grew up listening to fat jokes aimed at me (thanks Aunt Stella, who always seemed to ask at just the right time if I wanted to borrow her girdle). I know a fat joke when I hear one.

Then this past Saturday night, at the job I don't like to speak the name of, a guest who I know because my parents know him, asked me if I was pregnant. My boss was standing right next to me, so I couldn't throw the choice words I wanted to say back at him. Damn. I would've loved to say something. I told KT about it (she knows him too) and she said, "he's socially awkward". I shared it with my parents and they both said he's a "social idiot". Know what though? I don't care if that mutha is a social idiot or whatever, I care that this question was directed at me. WTF?!

It makes me feel that everything I've done - the dieting, the many, many hours of exercise, are all for nothing. KT and Theresa say not to let it bother me. It bothers me.

We played softball again today, lost our asses to a team we could clearly beat. I made a couple of bad catches, a couple of amazing catches (still not sure how I caught them), had a great hit to the outfield, got hit in the leg with the ball which left an immediate bruise - that's not gonna be pretty. But the weather was fabulous and it got me outside. Although what I really would have liked is to be at home, sitting on my couch eating something bad for me.

Teeth whitening update: 15 minutes into the 60 minute treatment and I already want to quit. This stuff tastes gross!

My friend Nada is in Kentucky right now, soaking up some rays, doing a little swimming and trying to recuperate with her parents. The walls on her own home started closing in on her and she had to get outta dodge. Can't say I blame her either. She's doing MUCH better and plans on going back to work in July. She's lost a bunch of weight too, which makes me very happy for her, because weight is just a damn struggle!

I have a vacation coming up in about 2 weeks. I don't plan on doing much of anything until that weekend, and I'm going camping with a bunch of friends. We'll do some canoeing and grilling and I'm sure some drinking. Should be fun!!

For those of you who don't know, my right ear has been ringing since February. It is completely and utterly annoying. I've had it for so long, I've just gotten used to it. I finally went to the ENT, and he said it might be TMJ (when your jaw snap crackles and pops). They gave me a hearing test and I passed most of it - but I do have some hearing damage. Could be the fault of Poison, Motley Crue, Metallica, Warrant, Cinderella and the other 80's-90's hair bands that I just HAD to play very loudly. The next step is for me to get an MRI on my head to check for tumors. When it checks out that I don't have those, my next trip will be to the dentist to check for TMJ. LOL...the ENT tried to get me to go on a soft foods diet. yeah that lasted right around 2.5 days and I was really hungry, so that idea flew out the window! I'll keep you posted on this, since I know you're all just on pins and needles wondering. :)

Here's to a good week, and hopefully I can report that my teeth are significantly whiter next week! Ciao~

I did it :)

I decided earlier today that I would go to the local high school and run on the track to prove to myself that I can run. So, I got out of work today, looked up into the sky and thought...ooh wee...sure does look like it's gonna rain....so before I could change my mind, I headed over to the track. I'm happy to report that I DID IT. I ran 1 mile and walked 1 mile (I alternated laps, walked one, then ran one). I was a hot mess when it was over and my legs still hurt hours later, but I feel VERY accomplished. This is a big deal for me!! I didn't think I'd ever actually run on purpose!! My heart rate was very high the first two running laps, and then the other two running laps, it kind of evened out. So I think my heart is also telling me that it likes this new endeavor!

I'm just really pleased. Yay!! :)

Update

Hi all, haven't updated in quite a while, sorry about that! Here's the latest and greatest:

I've been faithfully working out at the gym, just about every day. Since the weather has been getting nicer, I've been riding my bike to the gym instead of driving. I really like it for a few reasons, a) it saves me on gas, b) I'm getting a slight warmup (takes me about 10 minutes to get there), c) I'm getting use out of the bike I bought a few years back and have barely used, well up until the past 2 years anyways. Have been getting better about using that, so that makes me happy!

Our softball team is pretty good so far, our record is 3-1. I'm throwing better, hitting further, I don't get so winded when I run the bases. I didn't realize that the benefits of me working out would extend to other areas in my life. I know....duh right....but I honestly didn't think about that.

I have heard a comment lately - directed at me - that has pissed me right off. Yes readers, it is shit list time. The comment is: "So you're 33, no kids, no boyfriend, never been married. What's wrong with you?" Ok, let me just say, I don't point out to people that the way their marriage works scares the crap outta me because of the constant bickering and bullshit that goes with it. Why is it ok for people to say that to me? Oh mind you, one of the people who said that were DIVORCED. Hmmmph. It shouldn't bother me that someone said that, and I should be confident enough to deflect their stupidity, but you know...when you hear it twice in one day, you do start to spend some time thinking about it. Jerks.

I'm so close to being done working a second job, I can smell it. I will once again have my weekends back and I'm really looking forward to it. Having just Sundays off for the past few months has really sucked. But I told myself I was going to pay off some debt, because I refuse to be the 60ish person who still has to work because I have so much debt. People act surprised to find out I have a second job, like "exactly how much debt do you have?" I just keep thinking, you know - it doesn't matter how much debt I have, I just want to get rid of it. This is my way of doing it.

Well, I need to get ready to go to work, so that's all for now. Hope everyone who reads this has a fabulous day and I'll update again soon :)