Back from Vacation

I hope everybody had a good weekend.  Ours was great.  We went away on vacation with our kids to visit family.  We all had a great time.  I even had a makeover! 

Now that I've lost 19 pounds, it felt good to squeeze into smaller pants and look good.  Now to get rid of the remaining 13 pounds and I'll be good to go.  I should look into treadmills for indoor exercise or some other type of exercise equipment.  Can I read a book and use a treadmill at the same time?  Maybe I should be looking at an exercise bike instead.  Otherwise, I'd probably be reading the latest bestseller and go flying off the back of the treadmill and land on my backside.  While my kids would think that was funny, I don't bounce as well as I used to!

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Car Transmission Problems

My car might be dropping its transmission on me.  Like I can afford $2,000 to fix it!  All this stress is going to give me an ulcer. At the very least, zits galore.  I'll need the best acne treatment AND a new transmission!

What I would like is a new car actually but that's not going to happen.  I'd love to get a Honda Pilot that seats eight.  That makes it perfect to fit our six kids.  I was dreaming today and looked it up online.  At $700/month, yeah, that is NEVER happening.  It's too expensive but it's nice to dream.

Have a nice weekend everybody!

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Slowly Cutting Apron Strings

My teenaged daughter has tiny bumps across her cheeks.  They don't look like regular pimples to me but it's been a long time since I was a teenager (I still get them...just not to the extent teens do).  I don't know if she needs natural acne treatment or a better facial cleanser that won't irritate.  Perhaps it is just a winter thing and now that spring is here and it's not so dry anymore in the house, the irritation will go away. 

They didn't affect her fun at her school dance this past weekend.  She slow danced with a boy!  Her first slow dance.  I have pictures.  Even though she'd told me she slow-danced, it was still a bit of a shock to see my oldest child actually doing it.  Surprisingly, her dad handled it better than I did. 

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Vacation Plans

We're planning a trip to hit the road for a vacation.  We'll be on the road with four kids for hours.  I dread being cramped up that long in a car but I will buy car sickness medication for the kids so nobody will be sick (and hopefully they'll sleep through part of the trip). 

Maybe if I had a luxury car that had seats that felt more like a massage than a ride that will send me looking for the best hemorrhoids treatment instead, it wouldn't be so bad.  Drive in style!  Then again, with my husband's driving, I probably wouldn't even notice a luxury massage because I'm too busy watching his driving every step of the way.  I call him an ADHD driver...something catches his attention and he's looking at that instead of the road - drives me crazy!

Our dogs will go to the kennel.  I'm going to miss my puppy.  It will be sad leaving her, especially knowing that she is going to be quivering the way her breed does when they get nervous, but she'd be a huge handful to take - more of a handful than the kids.  She'll have her doggy siblings with her so I'm sure she'll be adjust and be happy to see us when we get home.

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Window Shopping for Houses

How often do you just drive around looking at houses, imagining actually owning a particular house?  We drove by a house that looked like a log cabin on a hill out in the country.  It had great views! It was really unique compared to the rest of the houses in the area.  I could imagine decorating it with rustic furniture inside and just enjoying the privacy of not having a neighbor ten feet from my window.

It was definitely just window shopping though.  Trying to keep the house we have is a big enough effort without the reality of looking at another house.  Kind of like window shopping at the mall but for houses instead.  In 3-1/2 years when my husband's child support is done, perhaps we will be able to afford a house out in the country.

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Mom Needs Drug Knowledge

Drugs are a nasty business. I heard this commercial on the radio the other day for home drug tests and they started mentioned certain drugs...drugs I'd never heard of. My oldest just became a teenager so it's something I had better learn more about - the names, what they look like, signs, etc. 

Speaking of drugs, I hear that Michigan is going to be letting out a lot of prisoners early this year.  Somebody my sister knows is on that list to be released by Thanksgiving for good behavior.  If I were his victim's family, that would make me very angry.  Prison probably gave him a rapid detox for opiates, but the fact that he was under the influence of drugs when he commited a crime doesn't make it any easier to understand, as a parent, why he is getting out early. 

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Graco Recalling 1.2 Million High Chairs

Graco is recalling 1.2 million high chairs.  To find out more, read here.

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David Beckham's Career Over?

After his Achilles tendon snapped on him, it looks like David Beckham's dream for the world cup in soccer (or football as it's called across the way) might just be over.  To read more about it, click here.

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Weight, Thyroid, Diabetes

If you have problems losing weight no matter which diet pills you use, perhaps you need to look at your body chemistry to help those diet pills along. For me, my thyroid hormones being out of whack was the difference between my old self and the bigger me - 30 pounds bigger.  Getting those regulated is helping my weight come off (18.5 pounds so far).  I would have kept adding on the pounds otherwise and my doctors didn't believe me when I said I wasn't overeating.  My family doctor handed me a diet to follow and my endocrinologist told me to cut out pop and lose 25 pounds a year.  From adjusting my thyroid medication, the weight is coming off with no changes in eating habits. 

I read an article yesterday about Leptin as well.  It wouldn't hurt to have a full thyroid panel (TSH, T3, T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, Free T4) and Leptin done to make sure your levels are good.  Also, get a copy of those labs and post anonymously on a natural thyroid forum (yahoo has one) because some doctor's idea of "normal" isn't optimal or they are using old lab standards.  The article (in the Huffington Post entitled "Long Term Weight Loss - More Than Willpower?" by Kent Holtorf) mentioned Leptin and diabetes as well. Definitely something to look into! 

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Away With the Soccer Mom Look

I almost bought black hair dye today to try!  I love black hair but I don't think I would look good with it.  However, my husband wanted me to try it out with one that washes out in 28 shampoos.  I don't think it would work with my lily white skin.  Maybe a chestnut brown would be better.  I love red, but of course, my husband picked out the brightest red hair color he could find.  He's not very subtle.

I am not looking for an anti aging product to change my look so much as just a change. I'm losing weight (and can't wait to get into my smaller clothes) and I want a hair style once I'm out of the size tens. Maybe when I can fit into an eight comfortably, I'll do something.

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Be Proactive About Your Health

I have taken a "hands-on" approach to my health the last few years after severe disappointment in how doctors were treating my thyroid disease - and not listening to me.  I am doing better now than I have in the past eight years and still improving. 

Along the way, I have read up on progesterone (and figured out why I spent 36 months - four pregnancies - with morning sickness 24/7), cortisone, iodine, and human growth hormone. I read one of Suzanne Somers' books and I believe she takes human growth hormone.

I stopped taking iodine a few weeks ago when I plateau'd with my weight but am going to start taking it again.  I need to clear out all the receptors of fluoride and bromine so iodine can replace it where it belongs for a healthy thyroid (and breast tissue as well - very important to prevent breast cancer).

If you aren't happy with how you feel, listen to that feeling.  You know yourself better than the doctor.  If something feels wrong and they won't listen, find a doctor that will.  I am a bit angry that I spent the last eight years feeling miserable because of doctors.  There was no reason too - it was an easy fix and they just wouldn't listen to me because the pharmaceutical companies have them in their pockets.

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Bank of America Mortgages

I am wondering what your opinion is of mortgages through Bank of America - either through personal experience or things you've heard that friends have gone through.

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What Does Mom Do When All Kids Go Back to School

With my four-year-old starting kindergarten in the fall, I've been thinking about going back to school myself.  The problem is that our local university doesn't have a program that I really, really want.  They have teaching, nursing, social work, and criminal justice degrees.  The only one of the three that might get my attention would be the criminal justice degree but I'm just not sure about that.  I used to want to be a social worker but the first abused child I came across, I wouldn't handle it well so I need to look for something else.

I've managed a corporate automotive office, worked for Presidents and Directors, worked for years on my husband's legal family court stuff, and was trained as an auditor for the automotive industry.  With everything going green, I am wondering what the energy auditor training program entails and what kind of job I might find in the future with that. 

I know I am going to need to do something but I lean more towards an "at home" job because with kids getting sick, etc., it's better for me to be home and available to any of our four children who need taken care of.

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Flu Strikes Us Again

I have two kids down today with the flu.  I was hoping the flu was gone from the house but as spring finally shows up, the kids are getting sick again.  I am going to Lysol the heck out of the house later and open the windows in a little while (once it gets to 50 degrees).  My four-year-old is down with a stomach flu and my ten-year-old has had stomach pain and dizziness for three days now.  I've rescheduled all my appointments so I can be home with them but they're resting now so I'm cruising the Internet while they rest looking for a red Jack Georges bag for the laptop to protect it.  I love red.  I have a red leather jacket, red boots, and a red guitar...I need a red laptop bag too!

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Going to the Children's Hospital

My youngest has an appointment at a children's hospital in a couple of months.  She is almost five and has been impossible to potty train.  It is like the message most people get of "having to go" doesn't register with her until right before and then it's too late because she's wet herself.  There isn't enough time to get to the bathroom.  You can ask her if she has to go potty and she'll say no but then 30 seconds later, she's wet herself. 

At three years old, her pediatricians weren't worried about it.  At her four year well-check, I got the talk about charts, rewards, etc. (everything we'd tried already).  I've potty trained four other children so it's not like I don't know what I'm doing but they sent us on our way home anyway.  A few months ago, I took her back to the pediatrician for this very reason.  Something wasn't right and waiting for her five year well-visit was just too long.  There was obviously something wrong.

We got the referral to a pediatric urologist and an antibiotic for a bladder infection.  From what I read, trying to hold it the way she does can lead to bladder infections.  We hoped the antibiotic would help but it didn't make any difference in terms of her potty training (cleared up the infection though).  Unfortunately, it takes months to get in to the specialist.

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Family Time

Spending time together as a family is important and my husband's work schedule makes that difficult at times.  So, when we are all able to be together and we can't get outside for volleyball or soccer, we play guitars inside or have family movie night.  I need to find more seating though because the dogs try to hog the couches, not leaving much room for the rest of us.  The kids try to cram together on the couch but usually end up on the floor when dogs try to take over their laps.  You should see a shepard try to squeeze herself into a tiny ball next to you on the couch!  What we need is home theater seating for the four kids and then a long couch for the dogs to climb up so it is truly a huge family movie night. The dogs are part of the family too!

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Epson Printer

My HP printer that I had for less than a year decided to stop working.  Both Hewlett Packard and Office Max decided it couldn't be fixed.  It's a good thing I bought the extended coverage!  We never buy extended coverage but for some reason, we decided to for this printer. Great choice!  It was definitely worth it because I got a new printer out of the deal for little output financially from us.

I ended up getting an Epson Artisan printer with the gift card Office Max sent me to replace my HP printer.  I have never owned an Epson printer before but now that I have, I would definitely buy another down the road.  It's pretty nice.  They make good stuff, like this epson tm-t88iv printer for retail stores. Looks like it prints better receipts than most stores.  I can't stand getting receipts that are barely legible!  What's the point if you need it if you can't read it?

Oh yeah, we bought the extended coverage on the Epson too - just in case.

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Medical Insurance Audit

My husband's employer is doing an audit on the dependents under the medical insurance plan.  Employers have to prove that the dependents on the plan are actually dependents with birth certificates, tax forms, court orders, and a marriage license.  It's been a little bit of a pain.

We have everybody in the family verified except for my stepkids.  We've given them copies of their birth certificates and a copy of the court order that indicates my husband has to provide medical insurance for them but it's not been approved yet.  The ex has always claimed them on her taxes so they aren't on our 1040 tax form.  That would've approved them immediately if they had. 

If they don't approve it, the stepkids get dropped from the insurance effective January 1, 2010.  That would NOT be cool. I've been calling them every few days to see about them getting approved but I am beginning to wonder if I should be looking at free insurance quotes. If they drop the stepkids, we would have to get the court involved, the ex would start up again (and we prefer the quiet of not having to deal with her), and we'd have medical bills to pay if they backed out of the claims this year so far. They keep telling me it "should" be approved - so why haven't they marked it approved yet? 

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Pom-Chi Vet Visit

We just came back from getting the baby shots - my five month old canine pomeranian chihuahua mix puppy.  They call her a Pom-Chi or a Chi-Pom.  I call it a little bundle of attitude - all 3.8 pounds of her.  She did ok at the vet.  I was wondering if she'd snip at the vet but she just did her little chihuahua tremor and didn't let out a peep for the shot.  While paying for her bill, they had these cute little promotional calenders on their counter with an adorable little hound puppy. I resisted the impulse to grab one (since I grabbed one last time) and waited somewhat anxiously to see if she'd try to take the receptionist's finger off when she wanted to pet her. She didn't (inward sigh of relief).

She waited to get home to show her displeasure.  She ran under the couch as soon as I put her down to hide.  Then she ran into her kennel to stare at me.  I believe she was plotting her revenge.

She has her attitude but she is also the cuddliest little lapdog I've ever known.  She loves to cuddle as close to possible to you and sleep.  She is also a big puppy kisser.  LOVES KISSES!

How can you resist this face?

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