Lessons Learned, One Year Later

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything...but here it goes. A year ago I posted this.

So, what have I learned in a year?
Even if I could, I wouldn't eat strawberry shortcake.
Yes, I have had to work hard to lose weight.
The road to being healthy IS long, but NOT boring and definitely worth it.
Old habits DO creep up on me, but I’m more aware of when it happens now.
I don’t have all the answers, but I know what works for me.

Another great weekend...

What a great weekend! Actually, it was a great long weekend. I left work about and hour early on Thursday to start my weekend. Thursday night Husband and I went to the Cheap Trick/Poison/Def Leppard concert…it was a pretty good concert. Never in my wildest teenage dreams did I ever think I’d go to a concert and see Every Rose Has It’s Thorn (Poison) and Pour Some Sugar on Me (Def Leppard) performed live. I was in 1980’s Rock and Roll heaven!
The kids and I spent time at the pool (one of our favorite activities) then spent the evening grilling out with friends. Saturday was pretty much spent inside because of gloomy weather, but it cleared up in time for another cook out. Unfortunately, Sunday was spent mostly in bed fending off a killer migraine.
The weekend was just about perfect. And I’ll admit, with the cooler than normal July, I’m really in the mood to go to the apple orchard…mmm…apple pie…apple butter…

A bloggy gift...

My first blog award presented to me by my best friend (which is a gross understatement of our friendship)...We've been together through thick and thin...

Visit to the Doctor

I forgot to post this last week, so here it is…

I’m not sure if I posted anything about Bear’s last appointment at the Children’s hospital or not…the appointment was back in April. At the time, the doctor felt that he could safely reduce the level of maintenance medications that my son takes on a daily basis without serious risk to his health. So that’s what we did. Roughly six weeks later, Bear began coughing. Nothing serious…just ‘clearing his throat’ is what he would say. As the weeks passed I noticed that he was doing it more and more. I considered calling the doctor but since we had an appointment coming up I decided to wait it out.

Normally my concern is that he hasn’t put on any weight or hasn’t grown any. Every time we would go to the doctor he would only have put on a few ounces. It is nerve-wracking because he’s so skinny…anyway, I never considered that lowering his medication would have a two fold affect. Just the other day it was time to go back to the Children’s hospital for a check up. In the three months Bear was on the lower level of maintenance he grew 3 inches and put on 4 pounds. YES! Finally! Significant growth! WooHoo! This is going to be a great visit!! When the doctor came in to examine Deacon he asked if I had any concerns. I told him that I was a little concerned about the coughing as it seemed to be getting worse over the past two months. The doctor gave him a once over and sent Bear for a lung function test (which we do every time we’re there). Here’s a quick background on lung function…people who have Bear’s level of asthma have a ‘normal’ lung function of 80% or better (meaning that their lungs do not function at 100%), when we first started seeing this doctor, Bear’s lung function was 48%. Bear’s lung function topped out at 76%, not even in the ‘normal’ range. Okay, back to normal programming. I really hadn’t thought that the lower level of meds would have such an affect on Bear…his lung function tanked 13% (which is why he was coughing so much) in three months, which, of course, is unacceptable. I was wholly disappointed. I wanted so much for him to be able to stay on the lower level of meds…but with this result it just isn’t possible. So, he is now on the higher level of maintenance medications again. Which makes me sad. It’s not an additional pill, or inhaler…just higher dosages of the meds he’s already taking. I know, at least he’s going to be able to breathe…I get that, but this has been such a battle for so many years, I thought that we were finally getting close to the light at the end of the tunnel…

I'm 36!

My 36th birthday was this past weekend…and I’m glad to say it was definitely a good weekend. On Friday the 10th my sister-in-law and I went to see Paramore and No Doubt at the Verizon Wireless Center. It was a great concert and we had an absolute blast. On Saturday the neighbors and I cooked (to celebrate a friend’s birthday) out after the rain stopped, it was fun but there were lots of bugs out and I was still tired from the night before so I turned in a little earlier than usual. Sunday (my birthday) Husband made me breakfast in bed, French toast, bacon and coffee (courtesy of Bear, he makes the BEST coffee!!). Husband bought me some awesome jewelry that I had been eying for quite some time. Later that night we loaded into the car and went to Olive Garden for dinner. It was so nice to hang out with my family (yeah, they were on their best behavior)…it turned out to be a great weekend.

Lessons Learned

I cannot eat strawberry shortcake if I leave my medication at home
I will have to work hard to lose weight
The road to being healthy is long...and boring
Old habits creep up on you with no warning
Sometimes people put you under the microscope because of the color of your skin
The above sucks
Staying true to yourself can be very difficult at times

Spring Soccer '09

I've been meaning to get this posted for a while...how time flies when things are busy! Anyway, both of my boys played soccer this year. Thank goodness that toward the end of the season Husband got a promotion and started working days. I had been running around like a chicken with my head cut off between the two boys. Once Husband switched to a day position he was able to help out with the running.

Teenager's team had a so-so season. They won some, they lost some, end of season. Bear's team went the entire season without a single win until the last two games. They blew the last two teams out of the water. The score for the second win was 7-0. Both boys had a lot of fun...next season (fall) Princess will be playing. That should be interesting!

Defending My Hobby

Some people are foodies. Some people do arts and crafts. Over the years I've tried many different hobbies. I've painted ceramics, I took a sewing class with my sister, spent time scrapbooking and I've even tried making jewelry. I enjoyed all of the hobbies I've tried and still do some of them ocassionally. None of the hobbies I've encountered have spoken to me like nail polish. Yes, nail polish. I currently have around 65 bottles (I'm waiting on my latest Zoya haul that will take my total to 71) and I'm never without polished nails. Husband thinks I'm completely insane and have spent way too much money on my collection. BUT! I can justify it...maintaining acryllic nails over the course of a year can cost over $600 a year. And let's not forget the cost of having a broken nail fixed and color changes. I think I've probably spent $150 on polish. No, I don't buy Dollar Store polish either. My favorite brands and China Glaze, Nfu-Oh and Zoya. I order from sites like Transdesign and 8ty8beauty (this is the only site I've found to offer Nfu-Oh). So, I'm getting awesome quality polish at incredible prices. No, I'm not trying to sell anyone on anthing, I'm just saying that not every person is a crafter or a foodie. I'm a nail polish junkie...and just for clarification...my nails are 'real', no acryllic on these babies. Excuse the picture quality...but this is Zoya Midori...it reminds me of a green apple but with a golden shimmer...

Celebrate good times!!

Since November of 2006 my husband has been working nights. I know when I say ‘working nights’ you might be inclined to think that I mean he goes to work at 8 or 9pm. Yeah, not so much. Not for us at least. His normal routine would be to put Princess on the bus at 12:30pm and head to work, and then he’d be gone sometimes until 3am. So, for the last two and a half years I’ve been doing 99% of all the running, doctor appointments and field trips with the kids. Well, all that’s about to change. Yesterday when Husband got to work he was asked to join a conference call with his immediate supervisor and the head honcho…they offered him a new position…a promotion of sorts. As of today I get my husband back. He started at his new position this morning…he’ll be working from 9:00am to 5:00pm. He’s been wanting a change, professionally that is. This literally fell into his lap so he eagerly accepted. I’m sure that we’ll in for a major adjustment period but I think it’ll be well worth it to have some real family time again!!!

Every woman should read this...

It could have been as long as 5 years ago that I had a benign mass removed from my breast. After recovering I was told that I needed to have a mammogram every 6 months until I turned 35, then I could have them yearly. Since then I've probably been three times. Yes, I know...I need to go have one done. Anyway, I stumbled across this blog entry yesterday and couldn't resist passing it on. Every woman should read it...