Catch Up and Upcoming Link-Up Party

Hi y’all!  It has been a few days so I figured I better get a catch-up in here.  First of all, I will be co-hosting the #Alittlebitofeverything link-up party with Iveth from fortheloveto.com again this week.  Iveth invited me to co-host her link-up party again with her this week!  I am so excited because I had such a good time last week, reading blogs and meeting new people.  Please, please, PLEASE come link up to our blogs.  Iveth is an awesome friend and I know you too will love talking to her and reading her blog!  Don’t be shy, come on over and link up!  Link will be posted on Wednesday.

Saturday I worked and ended up doing over 3 miles at work so I was done with the walking for the day.  Sunday I actually walked and we did 43 minutes 1.88 miles.  Sunday we did our regular walk and Annie went with me.  That one infernal hill that always gets me, it seemed easier although she said I huffed and puffed all the way up it.  But we did it.  Yesterday, Monday, we walked down the HUGE hill to my Mom’s house but had my uncle take us back to the top.  I am crazy but not crazy enough to try going back up until I get some more weight off.  We did 45 minutes and 1.52 miles.  Today Jeffrey and I did the same, walked to my Mom’s, with 43 minutes and 1.78 miles.  I have been walking late afternoon too.  The heat hasn’t been bothering me so that is a good thing.  Sunday and Monday both we just got back to the house and a storm hit.  It was hissing and blowing yesterday and I went out on the porch and stood in the blowing rain and wind.  I was hot! That cooled me off!  No storms today.  I was a bit disappointed.  I wanted to get cooled off faster.  Oh well.

I have had a light week this week so I have been able to eat here more.  I have gotten my diet under control again and now I think I need to fix the portions.  I dread starting something new like that right in the middle of some other changes I am getting ready to make but I think I can do it.  I hope I can anyway.  The weight is still coming off and I guess I am impatient but I have made so many healthy changes..  I know it is all having a great effect on me.  The changes include drinking more water, giving up sugar cold turkey, cutting carbs, cutting out the sweet pop, limiting my diet pop intake, and walking!  Walking and the water have been the two that if I was to pick some, I would have thought those would be the hardest ones for me to get used to but I am doing it and doing it successfully.  I still love that when I go places I can walk and not huff and puff.

So I have been dealing with some things, most of which I am not going to really name names and places, etc.  But  I will be as descriptive as I possibly can.  I have made some choices lately that I thought were for the best.  Turns out they were choices I should have said no to but yet it may propel me in the direction I need to go.  I have been wrestling with the fact that I am not the same person as I was previously and if that was causing me the issues, with Jeffrey’s sickness and being saved and going to church.  Honestly, yeah, that is a LOT of it.  I can’t run from people who don’t think like I do but I sure don’t have to put up with people who are nasty and hateful and treat me bad because of something that I have no clue about.  I also want to say that this has nothing to do with my beliefs or anything that I can tell from that angle. This is how I see it:  if you have something to say about me, say it to my face, not behind my back.  Furthermore, if you are gonna say good/bad things about me in any capacity first, you best be on a “I’ll call/’text/Facebook you” level because if you ain’t friends enough to have a way to get a hold of me, you don’t have any business talking about me.  This may sound and mean and hateful but for real, find another game.  I don’t have time for high school drama.  If your stuff is that boring that you to flap about everyone else, well, I am sorry.  But don’t mess here.  I have been through a lot, I have seen a lot, and the things that I think were once important, ain’t no longer. Don’t waste my time and yours starting a bunch of stuff that has no merit to it.   In other words, “He who is without sin cast the first stone.”  Yes I am saved and go to church and it takes all I have not to tell these people exactly what I think but I have been successful at keeping quiet.  I have to remember that I am representing my church and God.  That is one of the best reasons I can think of to keep a calm and level head.  And again, I am.

Now that I am off that soapbox I do have some things going on, things that I will mention eventually, all of which will be good.  In the meantime, school starts back next week and I start working on the major project so I am sure that will be interesting.  Say a little prayer for me that these things get fixed.  In the meantime, I am beat and need to finish my blog for the link-up and do dishes.  Have a great night, y’all!  Don’t forget the link-up tomorrow!

–S

Tuesday Adventures

Hi y’all!  Don’t forget the link-up party starts tomorrow!  I hope to see everyone out there who has a blog linking up!  Or at least those who read my blog.  Pass it along to your blogger friends too.  It is a great way to meet new people and find awesome blogs to read.  Again I can’t thank Iveth enough for inviting me to help host her link-up party!  It is an honor.  Check out Iveth’s blog at fortheloveto.com.

Today I had to take my uncle to Rural King so I ended up walking 1.34 miles there.  How did I do that you ask?  Well it is a huge store, and everything has been moved so a lot of it is hunt and peck to find something, you know like how people type one-handed.  They look and look and finally find it.  So it was at Rural King.  We got that done and headed home.  On the way there we kept driving into what looked like a massive storm but it barely sprinkled on us.  That was good because it looked like a rough one.

We got home and I got lunch ready and took a nap (gasp! I know–I have been so tired lately).  I have been trying to crank the carbs down like the dr told me to do and also the exercise.  So there will be more crock pot cooking here and other things.  He also told me to eat more protein.  That will help me more than anything.  And he also mentioned about how now that I am not used to eating a bunch of sugar, how I will feel awful after I do.  I have indulged in a milkshake the other day and it was a reasonable amount so I didn’t feel too bad but I can tell a difference in how I feel when I eat more on the wrong side of things than I try to eat better.  It is just hard because again of being out and about a lot and also because finding low carb snacks is hard.  I almost wrote low barc.  I guess those may be hard to find too.

Fall must be going to be early this year.  The wind was blowing when we took our second walk and leaves that were yellow were falling.  And the grass–the grass is starting to die and look like it is fall.  I am ready for it.  Fall is my favorite time of the year.  It is cooler and it just feels good all the way around.

Later this evening we took another walk for 41 minutes 1.31 miles.  We walked to my Mom’s house.  Yes we went down the hill.  But I had Gary bring us back up the hill.  I am crazy but not THAT crazy. Last time I did that hill going up was the second day I had been walking when I started all this and I had to stop three times, and I felt dizzy and light-headed and I am not ready to try that again.  After I get another 20 off I will, but not now even with what I have lost so far.  I will get there. I just need to hammer down on the exercise so I don’t know if that means to walk more or add more.  I will get that adjusted too.  All I know is I need to kick it in gear somehow.  He also agreed that one day a week if I have done well I can have a few things I like.  Awesome!

Tomorrow Jeffrey goes back to school.  Tomorrow is also shopping day.  I don’t know much else new so I am going to stop here.  It is kind of short but that is ok every so often.  Have a great night y’all, and I hope to see you all at the link-up!

–S

Just Another Monday and Upcoming Link-Up Party!

Hi y’all!  I am so excited because in the next day or two I will be hosting the link-up party with Iveth!  Look for that soon!  Please stop by and link-up your blogs!!!  Iveth is an awesome person and has a great blog over at fortheloveto.com.  Stop by and say hi!

Today I didn’t specifically walk because I knew I was going to have to go shopping for my Mom later in the day.  This awarded me with 1.37 miles and I will take that.  Wal-Mart about puts me down though.  Something about that floor just really kills me.  We got it done though.  Tomorrow will be a regular walk so I am excited about that.  I do have a question to pose to my readers.  What other things can I do that will help me lose more of my gut and get healthy?  I was never into push ups and sit ups and things like that so surely there has to be another way.  I have been sticking with my water better.  I haven’t had pop now for a few days and I don’t mind leaving it behind because even though I am busy I am still having time to make my tea in the mornings.  Those are good things.  I just need to figure out how to eat less carbs at work and on the go.  I had to take Jeffrey to the dr this morning and I asked him (the dr) and he gave me a few suggestions.  Scales still show I am almost 30 pounds down so I am not about to stop now.  He had several suggestions and I plan on following them.  I am still stumped by snacks but I am sure I will figure that out.

We did Jeffrey’s school shopping today.  We ended up with several good gel pens and 85, yes 85 tablets!  We all seem to run through tablets pretty wild around here so we stocked up.  At .17 apiece who wouldn’t?  Still need to get a graphing calculator for him.  The ones we looked at today were almost $100 each!  Holy cow!  I don’t think so.  I hope to find a cheaper one on Amazon or somewhere.  That is just highway robbery!  I hope they don’t assign some sort of wild assignment the first day because it may take a while to find a good one that isn’t so expensive.  I don’t need much like that for my classes, just pens and paper.  And books.  I will get those ordered next week.  I am doing the major project this semester and it really gives me a slight feeling of dread.  I have to do this in a scientific manner and what I wanted to do is apparently not scientifically measurable they way I wanted to do it.  I guess I will just need to rethink this situation or panic. I am leaning more toward number 2 there but I am not a panicker. I am not sure how long I have to complete this because I know that I will have to use a good chunk of that time to figure out what I am doing which was supposed to be done last semester or at least a good idea was supposed to be figured out.  All I figured out was I don’t know how to figure this out. Bleh. I will conquer this.  Somehow.

On the way home I passed Annie.  I always call her Is Nan, because she is Nan.  Ha!  So I pull up beside her, and holler Is Nan out the window.  She just told me in a message that that was a new one and I needed to blog about it.  So here ya go.  🙂  It was a new one.  And I will probably do it again.  Ha! Her schedule has gotten changed on her and I don’t get to walk with her as much as I would like to.  She has some days off coming up so hopefully we will get to walk again.  Or do something.  More like blow my diet at the Chinese place probably.

OK so back to the job thing.  I emailed a professor of mine from my old college who also happens to be a good friend of mine.  I asked him what I was doing wrong in my job search.  He basically explained that companies don’t do things like they used to.  And the job market was just harder and being called in for an interview is almost a thing of the past.  Well, I do say that doesn’t make me feel better but yet it does because maybe it isn’t me, for once it really is everyone around me. I don’t know but surely I will hit on something one of these days.  I am just disgusted because a BS is supposed to be that magic potion that helps you succeed.  I know I have a great job coming.  I just need to be patient.  And of course I can use him for a reference.  🙂  If you do happen to read this, your advice is priceless, regardless of what it may be.  Thank you.

I had tweeted to Ben Gleib the other day and he favorited the tweet so that was awesome!

And real quick the 30 day challenge catch up.  (Annie please catch yours up!  I miss reading your answers!)

Day 22-Do you play a sport?  If so tell us about it.  If not, tell us about another hobby.  Well, I used to play pool really well but I don’t much anymore.  I need to get me a pool table.  I love to watch baseball though.  I have many hobbies, including collecting ink pens, reading, writing, messing with my computer (a variety of things there–web design, fixing my own stuff, etc. since I am a computer geek ya know), walking, shopping, etc.  One of my favorite things to do is drive, so I love to go places.

Day 23–Your opinions on Lady Gaga.  Love her!  I love her music.  If you listen really close to her, she can sing anything in this world that you could imagine.  I would love to hear her put out some gospel songs.  Yes, I think she sings that well.

Day 24--Oh my, the last movie I saw in theaters I think was Toy Story 3.  That has been a while back.

Day 25–Tell us about the last book you read, for leisure or for school.  Well the last book I read was the Bible which I read in a bit ago.  But I read a few for school, one of which was “Borrowing Brilliance.”  It was an awesome book about how no idea is new–all ideas are borrowed and made your own.  I did a research paper on it, in the form of an interview, and got an A.  Professor said he hadn’t seen anyone do one like that and was happy with how mine turned out.  🙂

With that being said I don’t dread the research paper, it is the set up and execution of my data finding process that is killing me.  Bleh.

Tomorrow I gotta run out to Rural King and then I need to get my stuff ready for my missionary meeting on Wednesday.  I will be around though.  Have a great night y’all!

–S

Weight Loss! And a Stowaway!

Hi y’all!  Miss me?  I didn’t have time last night to write much after VBS and then Twitter just took a major puke on me Tuesday so I thought I would give it a day to get itself fixed.  And it did.  So yesterday I did 1.48 miles for 45 minutes.  It was very hot yesterday morning even though I was walking really early in the morning.  But I did it.  I did the driveway deal yesterday because I just didn’t feel like doing the hill in the heat.  The ones that are necessary between here and the driveway are bad enough in the heat.  And I took my weights.  I can still tell differences in my arms and my legs and in how I breathe and things when I walk.  And my clothes are still fitting looser so that is good.  Today I only did 1.35 but that was over the course of the day and since I had an appointment today I had to keep,  I will take this.  I am seeing the results though.  At my appointment I was weighed and I am down 4 more pounds which make this 28 pounds total weight loss.  Yay!  I can and I am doing this!  I am still not sure if it will give me the end result that I want as far as my health goes but at least I will look and feel better and will be able to walk with no issues.  I am just going to keep going and get myself healthy on many accounts regardless of how this affects the diabetes aspect.

So today I had an appointment and on the way into town we kept hearing something.  I stopped the car and sure enough, we had a stowaway!  A kitten had gotten into the engine part and it was just sitting in there mewing at us.  He wasn’t hurt or anything so he just got to ride in the car and hang out until we got home.  I am not sure why he got in there.  It sure hasn’t been cold, which is why they climb into engine compartments or at least the main reason why.  I guess maybe it was just done sitting outside or something and decided to get into it.  It is ok though, it was reunited with its mom.  Now it is just chasing us everywhere and seems to know us now unlike before its car ride!  Silly cats!

Tonight we had 10 at VBS.  I really enjoy doing the VBS.  I have a good time and the kids seem like they have a good time as well.  I hope we have as many tomorrow too.  Tomorrow we learn about Daniel and the Lion.  I have found some really good videos to show this time so that has worked out well.

I had been tweeting to Idiotest on Twitter and wasn’t sure they were getting any of my tweets but they responded today so that was cool.  I haven’t posted many tweets lately but I am going to post this one.  It was just cool.  🙂

@poothead Hi Stacey! IT IS!!! #Idiotest

— Idiotest (@IdiotestShow) July 29, 2015

I am also getting ready to link up with Iveth on fortheloveto.com  Please link up with her, she has an awesome site!

Also I have 1137 hits on this site now, 6 bloglovin followers and 55 subscribers on here.  Thank you all so much!  Keep following and telling everyone, would love to have more readers!

And a quick catch up on the 30 day challenge.

Day 20–Do you wear glasses?  And if you do, what are they for?  Well I wear them because I can’t see! Ha!  That is about half right.  I started in 3rd grade telling my Mom that I couldn’t see out of my left eye.  It was like there was a black thing in the middle of my eye and I couldn’t get the whole picture.  I have had to wear glasses since I was 9.  Dr then said it was lazy eye but several years ago I had heard tell of someone else having lazy eye and they had surgery to correct it.  Just the last time I was to the eye Dr two years ago they said I had farsightedness with an astigmatism.  What that translates into is slight Coke bottle lenses.  And as my sight gets worse with age, they will get thicker.  I used to have a huge one on the left but they cut some of it down since that eye will never get better which brings us to the next reason I wear them, and that is to protect my eyes.  But now at my ripe old age of 39,  I truly do need them as my vision is getting worse.

Day 21–Your favorite subject to study.  Well anything computers, the Bible, history specifically from the Pilgrims up until Anne Frank’s time, and ghost stories.  I love to read anything basically.  Been grooving on biography/autobiography stories in the last few years. And cooking.  I love to learn new things there.

This is all I have for tonight.  I have to go to work tomorrow.  I am still really struggling with the concept that I am supposed to be there and the fact that I can’t shake some of the feelings not necessarily of hatred but of dread that  I had the last time.  I pray to get this figured out but I am not having much luck.  I guess I will have to see if the reason I am there is revealed to me.  Also, please continue to pray for my niece.  She is still have issues.  And my brother got to come home Saturday and is doing great!  Please continue the prayers for him too.  Thank you all!

Have a great night, y’all!

–S

Nate Ruess!

Hi y’all!  I am back!  I have been so busy and worn out that I just took a few days to get things together and now I am back.  I am glad to be back although this week will still be extremely busy.  Saturday I did 2.3 miles at work and shopping then I came home and walked for 40 minutes which made the total for the day 3.82 miles.  When I got home from work, and got my Mom’s groceries put away and the church decorated for VBS, it was almost dark but we went anyway.  Those hills really got me!  I huffed and puffed up that one that gets me all the time.  Mercy it was rough!   I even had a few second pause.  But I moved on.  My daughter told me I was huffing an awful lot, and I responded with I did though didn’t I and didn’t give up!  The second hill on the go back Saturday was ok.  I dealt with it ok.  When we got back we were sweating up a storm.  Literally.  I haven’t been that hot for a long time walking.  It seems like when I walk I don’t sweat much, but when we stop I sweat and it literally pours.  I thought your body was supposed to sweat to cool you off but I don’t get extremely hot when I walk contrary to how I feel most of the time.  I am not going to argue that but you would think you would sweat a bit.  Well I do but I guess the real sweat session comes after you stop.  I have been out of the loop of the hills now for a while.  I still get my time in, at work or whatever, but I think there are more benefits to walking, for a consistent amount of time, at once.  This week I will be able to get on that.  Also every week when I tell say I am going to crank down my carbs I end up not being home to do so.  This week though, I will.  Yesterday I rather well and had a small piece of pie for dessert.  Today has been well so far and I intend to keep that way, at least in my range that I try to hit.  Yesterday was church and I didn’t walk but we finished the decorating and I ended up doing 1.18 miles doing that.  It is good to take what I can get as far as walking goes when I can’t hit it like I need to.  This morning though, we did 43 minutes and 1.37 miles which will go up after VBS tonight I am sure.  That hill that gets me?  I puffed up it this morning and it wasn’t so bad.  Didn’t take so long to get back in the loop.  And the second one wasn’t too bad either. I powered up it and kept on going.  It did drizzle on us a bit this morning.  We saw our rabbit in a different place and we think it was another one.  And no bullfrogs tried to get us.  🙂  I guess that walking all the time is like riding a bike.  Once you get out of it for a minute, and when you start back up, it is like you never stopped.  I can really tell a difference.  Remember I said I wouldn’t huff and puff in Cincinnati?  I didn’t!  I hit that goal!  Now I guess I need to set another one.  I am torn between fitting in smaller pants or not huffing and puffing doing certain things.  I think I better stick with the huffing and puffing thing since I think that I need to be able to walk more and in better health than my pants size, but that is important too in order to hopefully stop diabetes before it starts.  Whew!

It seems like I feel better if I get my walk in every day.  I just cannot seem to get myself to relax.  It is like my muscles tense up and I cannot get them to wind down.  I don’t know if it is just me, or I just can’t seem to let go because I expect the hammer to drop on something or what.  I hope to get un-tired this week.  I can keep on wishing.  And this ignorant cold I caught, it has gone except for snot stringing down my throat.  That is driving me mad.  I hope that goes on too.  I do say with not smoking for as long as I have, colds are not as severe as they used to be.  Annoying still but not as bad.

We decorated Saturday and yesterday for our VBS at church. The theme is Underdogs of the Bible.  It will be a really good VBS.  Today I think we start with Joseph.  Jeffrey will be doing crafts.  If you are close we would love to have you come out.  It will be a good time!

And now we come to Nate Ruess.  My daughter, as you know, loves to do stuff and I usually get to help pick these things or suggest things.  So now we are going to see Nate Ruess, from fun. in September.  Oh that will be good!   I like several of fun.’s songs and I like his solo stuff.  It ought to be good.  Will of course post pics.  I wonder if he will sign afterward?  Will find out I guess!

I have had several  cool things on Twitter.  Of course, Idiotest interacts with me all the time and that is cool.  Wish I knew who was running that account, if it was Ben Gleib or someone else.  I may have to ask someday.  I have met several mom bloggers on there that I connect with and I thank all of them for that, and several blog retweeters that I really enjoy and I thank for retweeting me, including The Blog Centre and a few others. The Blog Centre mentioned me in their newsletter they sent out today.  You can read it here: Blog Centre. Thank you again for featuring me!!!  And Daniel Goddard, who plays Cane on the Young and the Restless favorited a tweet I sent to him.  So all that is cool.

I also better catch up the 30 day blog challenge.

Day 14–Do you have siblings?  Talk about them or what it’s like to be an only child.  I have a brother, that I have talked about many times.  He is the most awesome brother in the world.  He has had my back from day one, vowing to always look out for me no matter what.  When my Dad wasn’t around he did a good job of doing those things that he was supposed to do.  He has always helped me out and then some.  And an update on him, he got to come home Saturday and is doing very well after his surgery.  I am so thankful to God for that!  I would do anything in this world for him, and him for me.

Day 15–Tell us your favorite junk food.  Well believe it or not, I can take junk food or leave it.  With this diet, I don’t get much obviously.  If I had to pick one, I like Reese’s anything, and  I love cake but I am not sure you count that as junk food or dessert.  There is no junk food out there that I can’t live without but I guess my favorite would be pop.

Day 16–Your favorite Disney Princess movie.  Hmm.  I guess Beauty and the Beast.   That is my favorite one, went to see it in the theater when I was a kid.

Day 17–My thoughts on Ugg boots.  Not for me.

Day 18–Do you drink soda more often than milk?  I suppose I used to but I drink more tea and water than anything.

Day 19–The initials of your crush.  I am married so that don’t count.

The 30 day challenge is caught up.  If there is anything you want to know about me, or want me to blog about, just comment it to me.  I would love to answer things!  I think I will close it for now.  I need to get lunch and get ready to head to VBS.  Have a great day y’all!

–S

Surgery and Walking

Hi y’all!  Today we did 45 minutes which was 1.62 miles.  We did this early before the sun was really coming up.  It was very nice and very cool out this morning.  I also got the carb thing back together today.  This is a good thing.  I was starting to wonder if  I was ever going to be able to get it under control but I did.  Not because I willingly fell off the wagon but due to circumstances I have had to adjust.  I will just keep hammering away at it until I make good progress and stuff.  Not that I haven’t been making progress but I don’t want to fall so far off the wagon that I won’t be able to recover.  I just wish there was an easier way to eat when you are out and about.  I think there has to be but I am not sure what it is.  If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.  Tomorrow we will be going to our rescheduled Reds game so I will get plenty of walking in there.  And this time, I bet you I won’t be huffing and puffing!  The last times we were out there I was huffing and puffing something awful but this time I won’t.

Remember last month when I was talking about a relative that was having surgery?  Well that was my brother.  He had gone in for a heart cath.  About a year or so ago he had some trouble with some congestive heart failure and he had gone in for a check up for that.  They decided to do a stress test which led them to believe he needed a heart cath done. At some point in all this they decided that he had parts of his heart not working and that could have been due to a heart attack in the past.  I am not sure where we learned about that at, but it was discussed in there at some point. We all went up there for that.  It was an all day affair since the guy who did it was also the guy who took care of the heart issues that came in the ER.  But he got it done and it was done successfully.  Said that if he needed stents or anything they would do them then.  Well, I just knew.  Don’t ask me how I knew, but I knew that it was going to require more than that.  Sure enough, once the Dr had looked at it he came out and told us that he was going to require some sort of open heart surgery.  That wasn’t what any of us wanted to hear.  We had briefly discussed this before he had gone in for surgery.  I don’t think anyone came to any solid conclusion about the “what if…” of that situation but here it was upon us, requiring some sort of action.  The Dr who did the cath said that the heart Dr who was going to do the other surgery would come in and talk to us before he was released.

So let me stop right there.  This was not a normal situation.  Usually it is us, on the other side, with one of our elderly relatives that has something going on .  This was a very strange situation to be in.  He even said that this was just bizarre.  I agree.  I do know I sat in the room with him the majority of the day before the cath, because I just didn’t want to leave him up there. I really hadn’t entertained that idea either, so I just stayed there.  I just couldn’t hardly stand it really. There is just some pitiful aspect about when a relative, that again, has always been a Superman and completely invincible, is the one who has gone down for whatever reason.  If anyone knows me, y’all know how I consistently act silly all the time.  No one would ever suspect how I really feel about stuff and that is a good thing.  I think that staying consistently silly is a positive thing especially when someone is facing something unpleasant.  I just hated that he had to do this and would have gladly traded places with him.  Without a doubt.  In a blink of an eye.  This is random but if he called me now and said he needed a kidney (no worries there, all is ok but I’m just saying), I would sign up to give him one of mine without even thinking. That is how much I think of him, how much I love him.  Anyway, I guess we expect parents and older relatives to become sick and have to deal with these things.  But when it is a brother, that is a different situation.  I really couldn’t even briefly entertain the idea of anything but positive things coming out of this.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if something did go haywire, but I just couldn’t let anything happen to him and have him taken away. And I consider my brother to be the best in the world.  He has not just been a brother but also a Dad at times because my Dad was just not around nor alcohol-free enough to be Dad.  And, they did.

This was territory that none of us have ever ventured into.  Our Mom had some stents a few years ago, but no one other than some cousins, and my in-laws, have had anything like this.  We really didn’t know what to expect I guess.  But we knew enough about heart issues to know what the major idea was and how it would be done.  The Dr who would do the surgery came in and explained to us the procedure of taking veins from the legs and using them to put in the heart.  And he was going to need a triple by-pass.  This is where a machine does the breathing and blood pumping for you while the Dr does the work on your heart, and he was going to need to replace 3 veins in his heart to reestablish blood flow.  They also said somewhere along the way said that this would possibly cause the part that appeared to be damaged, to be good again.  And I believe that that was accomplished.  The Dr explained that the percentage of failure or bad things happening (they used a more technical term than bad things now) during the surgery was 1% or less.  Hmm.  Everyone’s first impression of a by-pass is a disaster.  Your brain immediately goes to bad things or people not doing well.  Our first instinct is to call down the bad stuff or think it when in reality, times have changed.  This is a VERY serious operation, don’t get me wrong.  But it wasn’t like it was in the old days, with someone on a ventilator for a week, with the prospect that they may or may not be the same again.  In fact, these are very routine surgeries now they say.  Ok then.  The odds of bad things happening if the surgery wasn’t done was pretty bad.  So the Dr left us with that and to discuss it.  My brother, of course, was by no means gung-ho to get started on this one.  But he agreed he better do it, after minor discussion.  He had a follow-up in 2 days with the Dr who would do it and they would set a date and stuff then.  He set a date of two weeks ago today, in July, so he could get some stuff done before the surgery since he would be out of work and not able to drive for 4-8 weeks.  After seeing the surgeon this time, his thinking on this whole situation changed a bit and was more willing to get it done.  I can see where he thought like that.  I had my gallbladder out a few years ago.  I kept putting it off and putting it off. Gallbladder surgery isn’t anything like open heart surgery but no one is looking forward to surgery.  But once you get it done, you question why you waited.  I don’t think he is at that point, because he didn’t fiddle with rescheduling it several times like I did the gallbladder one.

My brother came down for the 4th.  We had pizza and some <gasp> cake and had a good time.  He had to go in the following Monday for all sorts of follow-up and pre-op stuff.  His veins were checked and were deemed ok in June for the surgery.  He had to do several things the day before.  And he had to be there at 530 for the surgery!  Ugh.  We both hate early mornings.  I can’t do them because if I get up that early, for whatever reason, I get an infernal migraine that lasts about a week.  Had one the day of his cath that lasted for 6 days or so.  And well, he just don’t do early.  So we show up at the appropriate time and he gets checked in and stuff.  They come in and start prepping him and we figure out where to go.  We came prepared this time with a laptop and some other stuff.  They came and gave us updates and things about when he went on the by-pass machine and off of it, and a few other updates.  I went out and got lunch and on my way out I just started singing the hymn “Praise Him!  Praise Him!” for no reason.  In fact I copied it onto my Facebook page that day!  I found out why when I got back.  The Dr came on shortly after I came back with lunch and was explaining how the surgery went well, everything went as it should and he was very happy with the results.  Praise God!  I knew he would be ok!  I just knew it.  I turned it over to God and let Him take the reins.  I instilled my faith where it needed to be and all was well.  I would have never made it without God being there with us.  He really is with us in all aspects of our life if we invite Him in and allow Him to be there.  I thank Him so much for being with the surgeon, with my brother, for keeping my Mom together, for safe travels, and for a whole lot of other things that may seem insignificant to most people, but God cares about it all.

Another odd thing there that happened too was at breakfast I picked up a Coke Zero with my name on it.  Stacey is a hard name to find spelled right.  Well I sat it down and lost it and went back and grabbed another.  My brother’s name is Jeffrey, and I named my son after him.  Everyone but me calls him Jeff, but I went back and put my hand right on a bottle with Jeff on it.  Then I located the other one.  How odd was that?

After he was back in his room, they told us he would probably be swollen and look odd with the breathing tubes and stuff in.  We got to go see him and he was awake and very aware of what was going on.  The breathing tube was irritating him but that was to be expected.  He was conscious enough to nod and stuff when we talked to him. Not sure how much of that he remembers but he was doing very well.  I called in the mornings and evenings until he could take his cell phone back over.  We went back up the next day to see him and he was up sitting and had been walking!  Wow!  His recovery has gone very well.  And like I said above, today is 2 weeks exactly from the surgery and he told me today he has felt better today than all the other days since this thing has started.  Dr said he would feel better in general after all this and he told us the day after surgery he could tell a difference.  I know he will run circles around me someday!  But he is getting there.  I want to thank his friends for all their help and all the people who prayed for us.  It makes a difference knowing there are people out there who care enough to help you and who are willing to say a prayer for you.

I better sign this off for today.  I have a long day tomorrow but it will be an awesome one, especially if the players come out to sign autographs and stuff.  Have a great night, y’all!

–S

Walking, Laughing and a Tea Bath

Hi y’all!  Today I only did 2.26 miles but I did it between several stores.  I had to go in to work early this morning to be passed off on meds so that is done now.  Now I can successfully perform all aspects of my old/new/old job again.  I feel a little better about the whole situation now.  I think this will be a big help.  Or at least make me feel better.  So while talking to the nurse I was catching her up on what was going on with me, since I worked with her before I left when Jeffrey got sick.  I told her about my hyperglycemia and my quest to lose weight and all.  She told me some unsettling stuff that I already knew.  She said if I was going to get diabetes, I was going to get it regardless of what I do.  Well ok.  I knew that deep down inside but you hear so many stories of people overcoming it and whatever else.  But like I told her, even so, I will be looking better.  I went ahead and asked her what the normal blood sugar was for a non-diabetic.  She said it used to be 110 and below, and even 120 at one time but now it is 70-100.  Well if that is the case,  my fasting sugar is high every day.  I declared this evening that this may not be a bad thing but a blessing (always looking on the bright side I am).  If this is what it takes to get me to slim down and get my health together, then ok.  I can deal with it.  I don’t WANT it, but if it is what is dealt me, I am going to make the most of it,  In other words, if I find out at the next DR visit that I am developing it anyway no matter the weight loss, then I will deal.  That doesn’t mean I am going to eat like a hog and gain it back.  I have a vision and I must get there.

I returned home and ate.  I am still fighting the low carb thing when I go out to eat.  I have been out and about so much lately that I cannot seem to get it back under control.  Things are going to settle down and if I can at least keep the walking going, I shouldn’t put any back on.  I am worried because first of all I want to look better and be healthy but I also don’t want all I have done to be just for nothing.  Remember me talking about getting aggravated about repeating things?  Yeah.  You get it.

We went to go see my brother today.  Remember me talking about a relative that had major surgery recently?  It was him. I plan on doing a whole blog on that journey maybe tomorrow, maybe in the coming week.  I don’t know.  I just want to be able to logically put my thoughts together and that is coming soon.  Anyway, before anyone panics, he is doing great!  Says he feels better too.  We visited him for about 3 hours and then we went to get my VBS stuff.  Vacation Bible School is in about a week or so, so I needed to get all that stuff together.  If anyone is reading this that goes to church with me, thank you all so much for all the help to make this happen!  I couldn’t have done it without God’s and your support.  So in the middle of all this we decide to get something to eat since we had been out all day.  Let me tell you where that goes.

The food is good as always at Denny’s.  They go out and I pay the bill.  The guy behind the counter was talking to me about his gut that was all wrong.  Needless to say, that turned into an interesting conversation about running people out of bathrooms and you see where it went.  So I went to the car, told my Mom about it, and she clips off something totally hilarious as I am swigging my tea.  I, for real, sprayed it out my mouth, out my nose, all over my wheel, dashboard, shirt, pants, and the excess ran under my butt.  I look like a kid that was potty training that missed!  Oh my goodness!  I haven’t laughed that hard since we got into a laughing tizzy seeing my brother earlier.  He hadn’t laughed like that since his surgery he said and he thought it would do him some good.  That was hilarious too.  All in all it was a good day and I accomplished what I set out to accomplish.

Now I am still up and writing my blog.  I think I have been resting too much lately  I figured I would stay up a bit later, and get up early to walk, and rest all day tomorrow so Wednesday we can see our rescheduled Reds game.  I am beat.  When I say I am beat, I am not kidding.  My legs, my back, my knees, even my BACK FAT is hurting!  What in the world is so bad that your back fat has to hurt?  I don’t know but mine sure does.  I hope I can stretch out and just relax tomorrow.  And do laundry and walk of course.  And I think that is one reason too.  I need to consistency of walking EVERY day at the SAME time.  Otherwise my body does something ignorant like buck everything I want to do.

Now I need to play catch up with the 30 day challenge.  Here goes;

Day 9–Favorite meme at this time:  I have seen a few recently I like but I don’t remember them so let’s go with none.

Day 10–Talk about your pets, or pets you would like to have:  I have Sheba, a Min Pin, Tink, a Chihuahua, Max, a Min Pin and Shih Tzu mix, and Coco Chanel a German Shepard mix.  I also have Tubs, Carter, Toby, Izzy B and Jinx cats.  We have a few cats outside too, Jetty and Zippy and Shaleigh.  We love our critters.  Sometimes they understand me more than society.  The only thing I can say about pets I would like is that saying I saw a while back: I only regret I don’t have a mansion big enough to house all the homeless cats and dogs in the world.  I think it said cats, but I love dogs too.  I think I should have been a vet as much as I love critters.

Day 11–Your top three favorite bands:  Well this is easy.  Rob/matchbox twenty.  That was a no brainer.  Still can’t believe that after 20+ years I got to meet him! The Fray.  That was a no brainer too.  Still can’t believe that I got to meet and HUG Isaac Slade.  Hmm mhhmmm.  And Maroon 5.  That one needs no explanation I am sure.

Day 12–My thoughts or opinions about Harry Potter.  I have read them. I loved them.

Day 13–Your thoughts or opinions about Mean Girls.  I am not sure, the movie?  With Lindsay Lohan?  Is that it?  Is this the one where the one girl choked on a jawbreaker?  Meh, I didn’t care for it.

Well now that is caught up.  I hope they get better than that.  That is all for today.  Have a great night y’all!

–S

Ahhh, walking! A featured blogger too???

Hi y’all!  It is been a bit since I have done a regular walking post but I have one today.  Don’t panic, I promise I am going to do The Fray post but I am just waiting on them to get our picture out there so I can download it.  After that,  I will post it and it will be a long one so be ready.  🙂  So today we walked, or I anyway, a total of 2.29 miles including all I walked earlier at the District Assembly for my church.  This evening we did 33 minutes, in 88 degree weather, which was a real feel of 91 degrees.  That is hot for a fat girl!  But I took the weights and got it done, but we avoided the big hill since it was so hot today. That is ok though.  Zippy, one of our outside cats, went with us.  She is a hoot.  She walked the whole thing.  That is good,  Jeffrey walked with me today.  Annie had her hours at work changed so she is trying to get in that groove before the change actually happens.  I have another day of the District Assembly tomorrow and then I go back to work Thursday.  I think I am going to be able to really groove on this schedule!

Remember a few weeks ago we changed our walking route due to that thing snorting at us in the woods?  This has caused me to have to walk up huge hills, which isn’t a bad thing, but it has.  So today, because it was so hot, we decided to walk the driveway so I could get my time in and not overheat myself on a hill.  As we start down the driveway, I tell Jeffrey that there is something down there off the left side of the road that snorts at you.  He of course said he would take care of it, started down the driveway kicking up gravel and hooping.  He takes a few more steps, stops, turns to me and tells me he can hear it.  He thinks it sounds like a duck quacking.  I don’t think so.  I think it may be a deer snorting at us but it seems odd that at all times of the day, many weeks apart, it would be in the SAME spot snorting up a storm.  He walked over to the edge of the woods and tried to see it.  I, I know go ahead and laugh, think we have a bigfoot.  Or something very strange that can’t seem to remove itself.  It hasn’t come after us yet but the next time I get down there I am going to record it snorting and see if someone can tell me what it is.  He decided he would take care of it if it bothered us.  I guess with Jeffrey with me I don’t have to worry about anything, snakes or serial snorters included.

Let me catch up on my 30 day challenge.  I forgot where I was.

Day 7–How you came across tumblr and how your life has changed.  I have to admit I don’t do anything with tumblr.  Maybe I should.  I don’t know.

Day 8–Are you a fitness guru or a couch potato?  Talk about your exercise habits.  Well I don’t think that needs much explanation.  I try to walk for at least 30 minutes every day.  This has made a huge impact on how I walk, when I walk, and all sorts of other things that I never thought possible.  So, I would say I am in the middle.  I am converting to a fitness nut but at a pace that won’t kill me.  I want to do more and will start to do so.

Now on to the most awesome part of the day—-I am a featured blogger on The Blog Centre!  I am so honored to have been chosen for this.  I have really enjoyed being a part of The Blog Centre and I thank them for allowing me to be!  Here is the link, pop over and check it out!  http://theblogcentre.co.za/  It should be there on the first page but if not click on Feature Me.  I want to thank you so much for featuring me!  I do appreciate it!

I also want to say that I wrote that before I had talked to Sandy Nene, so I also want to say that you and your page would be in the awesome people I have met while blogging question.  Thank you again as well!  And
Debbie from myrandommusings.blogspot.com and Iveth from fortheloveto.com and DomesticatedMomster.com—I have met several awesome people since I wrote that post, so thank you to all of you for talking and reading and linking up with me on posts, Twitter and Facebook!  I look forward to reading more from all of you and getting to know you all better!

I better stop for tonight.  I have an early morning in the morning and I hope  my picture will be posted so I can write about The Fray.  It will be awesome!  Have a great night, y’all!

–S

Guest Blogger

Hi y’all!  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  We sure did.  🙂  I will do a post on that when we have the picture they took of us when we met The Fray.  They were very tall, and very nice!  My daughter and I both got a hug from Isaac Slade and I just couldn’t believe it!  Oh wait until you hear the whole story!!!

Yesterday I know we walked close to 4 miles.  It was just hot all the way around there in the venue and otherwise.  Today we didn’t walk.  I got up tired from going to bed at 3AM but mostly because the temp was 95 degrees with a heat index around 111.  It was absolutely stifling outside.  I do not think that I, in my still heavy state, need to go outside and try to truck in that.  I don’t think it would have had great results.  One of my meds tells me to stay out of the sun and I do notice when I am in the sun, I get hot, and I don’t mean hot but HOT, fast.  But,  I did do 1.29 miles at Wal-Mart so that was something.  Something is always better than nothing.  Also I tightened down the carbs a bit today.  I got to make my tea and I found some unsweetened Dean’s tea.  Oddly enough, it seems like the sweetener really tastes good in it cold as opposed to how I have thought I have had to mix tea hot.  Don’t get me wrong. fresh and hot and sweet tea is still good but I have a serious hankering for Dean’s tea and I discovered today it isn’t just the sugar, it is the way the tea tastes.  I can mix it myself as far as sweetening it goes.  Just wish me luck that I can find it more often!  And, and, and, get this!!!  I bought some concert shirts last night.  Two of them came in XL for the biggest size and one was a XXL.  I still prefer that as I have enough room, but the XL fit!  I looked at myself in side view at Wal-Mart today and I look the same as I do in a XXL!  That is awesome!  I am making progress!!!  I just have to get the exercise thing going again and keep with the tightened down carbs.  As you can see I do something everyday even if it isn’t the usual.

So the reason today I had to go to Wal-Mart was I needed some stuff, obviously, but I had to go get a new washer.  I went ahead and got a dryer too.  The ones I have are just not cutting it.  It will be easier to get a new set because the service call alone would buy a cheap washer or dryer on sale.  This just makes me so mad because since I have had a washer and dryer, for the last 5 years now (it was laundry mat before that  I cannot express how much I do NOT miss it), I have run through 4, one of which was given to me so I can get started when Jeffrey was sick.  I just hope this set will be awesome.

I have had the opportunity to be a guest blogger on weblogforlove.com.  I truly appreciate the opportunity!  I want to say a special thank you to Sandy Nene for allowing me this opportunity.  I wrote about the beginnings of my journey to get healthy and where I am now.  Please, click on over and check it out!  It is just an awesome web site to check out!

Healthy and Fit, Could That Describe Me Someday?.

I have an early morning in the morning and there are tornado warnings all around so I better catch a nap while I can.  Have a great night y’all!

–S

Walking and Driving and Walking

Hi y’all!  Sorry I missed yesterday.  More on that later.  Yesterday I didn’t walk all at once but I did 2.45 miles yesterday and today with grocery shopping I did 2.83 miles total.  I think I feel so messed up again because I haven’t had my regular walk at once with my weights.  I had some stuff going on that I couldn’t but I will get back to normal tomorrow I think.  I also have to talk about eating.  Eating out on the go is a nightmare.  I finally ended up at a buffet today so I could meat it up and stop eating fries and excessive bread on sandwiches.  Next week I am going to tighten the carbs down and the portions. I knew that last week and this one I wouldn’t be able to because of being away from home with all the stuff going on.  But I will more than make up for it next week.  I don’t know why they dont’ have something in places specifically for low carb people.  Not everyone can eat the same.

I have notice this concept too.  No matter how much you try to dress and look good, you just cannot all the time no matter how hard you try.  There are always clothes that make you look like you haven’t lost a pound, or they look frumpy or something.  I have noticed that recently.  I can put on my black pants which are now leaning toward a dark gray and I look fabulous, and can tell I have lost weight.  I put on a regular blue pair and I look like a chub.  I can tell a difference obviously but my reflection sure can’t.  I hope to acquire some more black pants soon.  But if you remember, wearing black is my thing.  I just feel more confident in it regardless of my weight loss.

Yesterday and today both I was with a relative who had some major surgery.  More on that in the coming weeks.  I don’t want to talk about it yet until I know things are pretty well healed.  Anyway, I did much walking yesterday and today.  I had to.  I was tired of sitting.  I have sat so much last week driving to training and this week too waiting and driving that my legs and knees and things were all just locking up on me.  And I can feel the fat gathering on my rump so I have got to get back at it.  I know the circumstances yesterday and today prevented me from carrying on normally but the good thing is, unlike in the past, I am willing to hop back on my program the next day and proceed instead of giving up.  I am enjoying the feeling of walking and not breathing like a telephone breather, and my pants are smaller and the holes in my belt are getting further around it.  I am enjoying all that.  So anyway we walked yesterday and today several times through the hospital and I still didn’t find the morgue.  Found pathology, and a room by it that we thought was the morgue, but no.  Someday I will find it.  It was a good reason to walk like a mad woman through the hospital.  It is probably under my nose and I just didn’t see it.  Anyway, my relative that had the surgery is doing fabulously well and I thank all of you for the prayers.

This all brings me to this idea:  why as children do we have the notion that parents and siblings and other relatives are indestructible?  I have had a couple pass away in the last years, some of which I know were indestructible.  They were so indestructible that death should have never gotten ahold of them but it did.  They would take care of things for me, fight for me, fight icy roads for me, do anything in this world for me to help me.  And my relative that just had surgery, they were always thought of to be indestructible too.  But when someone had some issues and you see them in this way, it breaks your heart.  I guess even Superman had issues.  It is just amazing how things we think when we are a kid never leave us as an adult and then we wonder why.

Tomorrow I start back to my new/old job.  I have worked there before so this is nothing new as far as what the job entails and the clients who are there.  I do know I look forward to it.  I hate to admit that I missed the place or anything because admitting things like that shows a side of me that not too many people know I have.  But I did.  I am really glad to be back.  I know it is going to wear me out quite a bit but that will be ok.  I will get used to it.

So one thing again I always notice when I am out and about is how the highway always calls to my soul.  It seems that 37 doesn’t call to me as much as others do.  I guess it is because we are very familiar with each other.  I have a first name basis with 37, aka Indiana 37, aka I 37, etc.  I know it as 37.  It nods to me and speaks quietly, knowing it won’t be long before I grace its stripes with my presence.  I will see it Sunday when we go see The Fray and Train.  I will see it twice next week as I make two more trips to Indy and to Bloomington again.  It knows I am not gone long and therefore it saves me the indignity of being sought after and made miserable with its calling.  Yeah, I am a little weird.  But you gotta love me!  The same thing applies to the loop, 465.  It knows I will be back therefore it don’t try to entice me before I can make it back.  This is random but the last 2 days I have viewed several out-of-state cars.  I guess 37 called to them and they had to answer…..:)

I must catch up my 30 day challenge so here goes.

Day 4–Write about your closest friends.  I have a few close friends.  My bff is a guy.  Yes folks, my best friend in the whole world is a dude.  His name is Larry and we have been best friends for @#$Q$ years.  Ha!  I always like to say that but seriously for 25 years or so.  We have been through some stuff and some good times but we have always been there and will probably always will be.  Also there is Suzann.  I met her at VUJC.  She is like me, one of a kind and a character.  I love both of these guys to death and am very thankful they are in my life.   And there is Janet from Wisconsin.  I don’t get to see her too often but I would love it if she lived closer.  I think we would really be a big help to each other if she did.  And just hanging out more often too would rock.  Of course my husband, kids and brother and mom are my close friends too but you know I talk about them all the time.  🙂

Day 5–Tell us your three favorite colors.  Purple is my favorite color.  Hands down, fire engine purple is awesome.  I also love black.  Any and everything black can be found in my wardrobe, all the way down to black fingernails.  Yes, I love them.  I wore black nail polish when you could only find it at Halloween and stock up!  And the other one I would have to say is a fuschia type of color.  Yeah, I can deal with pink only if it is HOT pink.  Like WILD pink.

And now to the Twitter part of my blog.  Y’all know I love Twitter.  I have been able to meet and talk to people I otherwise would not be able to.  I do get invites to link up to blogs and I want to thank Iveth for that.  I will linking up as soon as I finish this blog.

@hi_mommie @poothead @samnthamdillrd @Twinmumanddad @jasmineacs #4Dlove2Linky is open for your links! Please RT! http://t.co/NmPZ0QH7l7

— For the love to (@Fortheloveto) July 8, 2015

Also y’all know about my obsession with Idiotest. I got a few favorites and a reply today! Whoo hooo! I love it! I just love knowing they will talk to you, you know?

@poothead @bengleib I can’t wait Stacey! Can you?!

— Idiotest (@IdiotestShow) July 9, 2015

I just think that is so awesome!  It means a lot that they take time out of their day to acknowledge me, and that goes for anyone on Twitter.  Thank you all!

I think this is about it for tonight.  I am about beat and I need to rest for work tomorrow.  Have a great night, y’all!

–S