Ah, new baby smell!

I took my kiddos over to visit with their cousins today and see the new baby.  We took over some pizza and just hung out for a few hours. 

Here are a few pics I got (btw, today is not a good hair day!) :






Cousins!

Birthdays

Yesterday would have been my mom's 54th birthday.  It's hard to believe she's been gone over 8 years now!  I still miss her every day. 

However, there was happiness yesterday because my new little niece came into the world!  After 3 boys, my bro and SIL got their little girl!  I got to see her in the nursery last night and watch her get her first bath. :)  Can't wait to take over some pizza on Sunday and get my hands on her and breathe in that new baby smell!!!!



Welcome to the world, baby girl!

Not my day

The day started out alright.  Then, when I got to my car after working this morning, I noticed a scratch along the side about 8-10 inches long.  I don't know if it happened while I was inside, or sometime in the past and I just didn't see it until today.  It's quite possible that it happened in my own garage or driveway with my kids (and their friends) constantly in and out with their bikes.



I stopped at a local body shop on my way home to get a quick estimate for the damage.  Looks like it's going to cost about $225 to fix.  Grrr!  I'm really not happy about that!  There's no way to know how it got there, either.  If it was another car, they're long gone.  If it was one of my kids, there's no way any of them would admit to it.  Either way, I'm just going to have to pay to get it fixed.

Then, as I was driving home on this lovely warm spring day, I stopped to get a lemonade from McDonalds.  Unfortunately, after pulling out onto the street, I took a drink and realized it was majorly watered down and not very lemony at all. :(  Sigh.  I was really wanting me some lemonade!

On top of that, after working out and showering and still in my undies, I opened my bedroom door to ask my oldest if she was getting ready for her orthodontist appointment, and my younger daughter and her friend were standing at the top of the stairs (which just so happens to be right outside my bedroom door...).  I just love having house guests that I don't know are here.

And now, my stomach hurts.  I just want to go lay down in bed and hope tomorrow will be a much better day!

Work

I've got a decent amount of events to work this week and next.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, both this week and next, I'll be at the same place I've been working events the last couple of weeks.  I like this location because it's fairly close to home.  Not to mention it starts at 7:30 as opposed to 7:00. :)  I'll take an extra 30 minutes of sleep any day!  On Wednesday next week, I actually have a second event to work in the afternoon from 2-6 pm.  That will be a nice long day.  I'm not complaining though.  It's decent money and it's so easy!  Bring it!

2 Miles

While I was jogging at the gym yesterday, I got to a mile and thought I should keep going to 1.5 miles.  I'd done that once before but I have just been stopping at 1.  So I did.  When I got there I figured I could keep going so I went for 2.  And, I did it!  Woot!  That was the first time in my LIFE I've jogged 2 miles without stopping.  Maybe that's not a big deal for a lot of people but, for me, it's pretty big.  AND, I did it again today. :)

On another note, I got some new flip flops on Saturday.  It has been awesome flip flop weather lately and I needed a new pair.  The only bad thing about new flip flops is breaking them in.  The tops of my poor feet were all marked up by yesterday afternoon:
 

 They are gel filled on the soles, so once they're broken in they should be nice and comfy!

Frustrated

I would really love to be able to find a real job.  The events that I'm working are okay, it's definitely easy money.  But, they are not reliable.  I will go weeks, at times, between working them.  And recently, several of the events I'm scheduled to work end up getting "decreased" at the last minute and I'm "not needed".  This has happened at least 3 or 4 times now, including one day last week, and today.  I am still scheduled, as of now, to work tomorrow and Wednesday.  Assuming they don't decrease the staffing between now and then.  They already decreased the time by an hour.  Ugh.

It's not for lack of trying though.  I submit resumes and applications several times per week to hospitals, doctor's offices, home health companies, anything I can find.  In the past 5 months, since passing my RN boards, I've been on one interview (just a few weeks ago).  Although that interview went well, the doctor ended up choosing a nurse with 35 years of experience.  I can't compete with that!

Some days I'm fine with it, other days I get a bit frustrated that I can't find anything and worry that the longer it takes, the harder it will be to find something.  I don't know.  Oh well, I guess I'll just do my thing and keep waiting it out.  I start classes for my bachelor's completion program at the end of this month through OU.  Maybe that will help...

Yummy snack!

 
A naval orange and a bosc pear.  I was very hungry.  Now I'm not. :)

Yay me!

Last week I was finally able to start jogging a little bit again.  I hadn't really been doing a whole lot of jogging, but I would now and then.  After spraining my ankle last month, I hadn't been able to jog.  Today, after 30 minutes on the elliptical, I actually jogged an entire mile without stopping.  That's kind of a big deal for me.  I haven't jogged a straight mile since probably my freshman year of high school!  That's not all though. I could have gone longer if I'd pushed myself, but I took a break and walked 0.4 miles then jogged another 0.6.  That's crazy!  Sure, I wasn't sprinting or anything. I was jogging rather slowly, but jogging nonetheless. Woohoo!

New specs

My new glasses finally came in.  I hate waiting!  That's why I usually go to Lens Crafters and get them in an hour.  But, I decided to go to a local eye doctor that is in network with my insurance and save a little money, even if it meant having to wait a week for them to come in.  So, I just picked them up.  For some reason, the contacts I ordered at the same time (that usually come in within a day or 2) are still not in.  Methinks someone may have forgotten to order them.  Good thing I still have some.  They also didn't have a case for my new glasses and I'll have to pick one up next time.  Sigh.  Anyway, here they are:



And the side:


Like I said before, aside from the decorative earpieces, they are very similar to my previous glasses in shape and the main color is brown as opposed to "cranberry".  Apparently my prescription in my right eye changed slightly, so it will take a couple of days to get used to the new strength...

Ew, snot!

I have a head cold.  Blah!  I have felt slightly congested for a while, but last night my nose started running.  It wouldn't stop no matter how many times I blew my nose and I still feel congested.  I actually had to sleep with a tissue stuffed up my nose to keep it from dripping out all over my pillow.  I know...super sexy! 

On a positive note, I had an eye appointment yesterday and ordered some new contacts and glasses.  I like my current glasses, but they are 2 years old and have had a nice scratch across one of the lenses for a year now, and I recently cracked an earpiece.  So, it was time for new ones.  The frames I picked out are similar to the ones I have, but slightly different.  Here is a pic I found online of them (or some that are very close):

Basketball

Since last Thursday, I've been playing basketball quite a bit.  Not well, mind you, but playing.  Thursday evening was my son's last practice of the season and the coach thought it would be fun to have the boys scrimmage their parents. Well, it was me and one other mom and the rest dads against the 2nd and 3rd grade boys.  It was actually pretty fun and I even made a couple of baskets.  One didn't count because the parents were supposed to pass the ball 3 times before shooting, and we'd only passed twice apparently, but whatever.

Since then, I have been shooting around at the gym to mix things up in my workouts.  My shoulders are now really tight.  I know I don't shoot correctly, but it's just for fun, so I can make a fool of myself all I want, right? ;) 

I am glad to be done with having to drive 45 minutes each way to take the boy to practice once a week and again on Saturdays for games, that's for sure!

Food, why do you tempt me so?!

Today I worked from 7am to 2pm. Most events are shorter than that.  Yesterday's was 5 hours, tomorrow's is 4.  It wasn't too bad though, except for the fact that the place I was at today had all kinds of food catered in for their employees and we were invited to partake.

I ate breakfast before going in, so I was able to resist the bagels and doughnuts, etc (though I did have coffee).  All of this food, btw, was set up right outside the room we were in so the smell kept wafting in, making my stomach growl.  By about 1pm, everyone else was eating and my stomach was about to go insane, so I gave into the temptation.

I ate a pulled pork sandwich, maybe 1/2 oz of cheddar cheese, about a 1/2 cup of potato salad and a pickle spear.  Doesn't sound terribly insane, but I HATE having to guess on my calorie intake.  I hate not knowing if I'm actually going over at the end of the day or not.  I know, it really shouldn't matter too much for just one meal, but my weight has finally started to drift down a tad more steadily recently, and I'm hoping to keep it that way.  Of course, I still worked out and tried to leave myself enough room in the calorie department in case I underestimated my lunch, but tomorrow is my weekly "weigh-in" day and I always seem to be up on Thursdays no matter what I do.  Hopefully, I didn't sabotage my weigh-in for this week. :/

Also, when I left at 2:00, there were cookies galore, but I hightailed it out of there before they could woo me with their sugary goodness!

Long day!

-Work 5 hours starting at 7:30 am. Check.
-Drop off a forgotten item to a kid at school. (My kids would all forget their heads if they weren't attached!) Check.
-Take Bella on 3 mile walk. Check.
-Pick up kid from play practice. Check.
-Make and eat dinner. Check.
-Clean up after dinner. Check.
-Fold about a million loads of laundry. Check.
-Help kid with homework. Check.
-Unload/Reload dishwasher. Check.
-Change sheets on my bed. Check.
-Load washer and dryer. (Yes, laundry is never-ending around here!) Check.
-Argue with teenager. Check.
- Shower. Check.
-Read to son. Check.
-Blog. Check.
-Ready to crash at 8:30 pm. Double Check!

Now, I just need to figure out how I'm going to make sure my 2 younger kids get on the bus at 8 am the next two days when I have to leave my house at 6:15, my oldest leaves at 6:45, and their dad is out of town...

Lights and kids and work, oh my!

Yesterday, my engine light, VTM4 light, and a little wrench light all came on while I was driving.  So, after my son's basketball practice last night, I decided to stop into the dealer's service department (since I was already on that side of town).  I got there at 7:30 pm and didn't leave until 10 pm!  Ughhh!  I was just wanting an oil change and have them tell me why my lights came on.  I thought I'd be in and out.  Sigh.

Long story short, the engine and VTM4 lights were on because my oil was too low (I was not over my mileage from the last oil change, btw) and the wrench light was because I have scheduled maintenance due.  That one won't go off until that maintenance is done.  That includes oil change, something with the transmission, and a tire rotation.  Unfortunately, it took them so long to figure all of this out that I didn't have time to stick around and have them do the work last night.  My son was already asleep in the waiting room. :(  So, they put more oil in to hold me over until I can bring it back in for the maintenance work.

Today I helped in my son's class again.  The kids are all so cute, but I am glad I am only there 1 day a week.  ;)  Today was their "friendship party".  Basically their Valentine's party.  At the end of the day, the teacher turned on the Cha-Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle.  It was pretty funny teaching the kids the dances. 

Tomorrow, I have to go to a 3 hour class to renew my BLS certification.  It expires this month and I was holding out in hopes that I'd have a job that would pay for it, but...no.

Good news is, I have several events coming up that I'm scheduled to work.  Most of which are at the large financial institution I was at in October and November.  I had thought they were done with events there, but I was apparently wrong.  It's fine with me though, because it's only about 20-25 minutes from my house!  I'll be there this coming Tuesday and then about 4 more times in the first half of March.  I'm glad these events are starting to come back up again.  Before this week, I hadn't worked since the beginning of December!

Stupid ankle!

It really sucks trying to work out with a hurt ankle.  I miss being able to use the elliptical and the treadmill.  I feel like I'm basically stuck using the recumbent bike or the seated elliptical which, unfortunately, I don't seem to burn as many calories with.  So, that is rather frustrating, especially since I feel like I'm working out just as hard.  I feel like like my heart rate should be a good 10% higher than it actually gets on these.  But, it is better than nothing, right?

The cake and the party!

Last night was my daughter's birthday party.  She had some friends come over for pizza and cake then we went ice skating.  I was going to attempt it this time, but my ankle is still sore and swollen, so I didn't think it would be a smart idea.  After skating, we dropped off the one boy that came and the girls came back home with my daughter for a slumber party.  (Always fun...for them.)

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I used red food coloring in white cake mix and white frosting to turn them pink (the red cake is red velvet).  Here are some pictures of how the cake turned out:

Still cooling:


Iced and ready to go:


With the candles:


Cut:

So, it didn't look perfect, but it tasted good!


And here is my "baby" girl skating:

She is obviously a pro! ;)

I tell you what, OW!

In my rush to get out the door this morning I came down the stairs only to step on a pair of boots, that apparently walked to the foot of the stairs at some point on their own, and rolled my ankle.  I heard it crack as I went man-down.  I twist my ankles frequently because 1) I am clumsy and 2) they are both somewhat weak due to past twists and sprains, but usually I can walk it off and am fine within a few minutes.  This time, however, I must have done a pretty good job on it.  It is still swollen and very sore!  I am having trouble bearing any weight on it.  :(

Of course, I had stuff that needed done today, so there was not much time for RICE. With my daughter's birthday party tomorrow night (today is her 12th birthday!), I needed to get her cake made.  That required a trip to the store where I hobbled through Meijer to pick up the rest of what I needed to make the cake as well as a wrap for my ankle.

Apparently my brain was affected by this injury as well, because when I got to the check out and went for my debit card, I realized my wallet was not in my purse.  So, I had to go out to my car to see if it had fallen out in there.  Fortunately, it was there and I went back in and paid for my stuff.  After finishing up the cake, my older daughter called needing me to bring her a part of her practice uniform.  I walked out to the car and got in, only to realize my keys were still inside.  Normally these things wouldn't be that big of a deal, but with an ankle that hurts to walk on, I almost cried!

The checkerboard cake was more tricky than I thought it would be and I made a huge mess, but I think it turned out okay.  At least it looks decent all intact.  We'll see tomorrow what it looks like once it's cut (pictures still to come).

For now, I just popped 800 of ibuprofen and am going to take a few minutes to elevate my foot before starting dinner!

Yum!

I was in Kroger the other day and found this carrot cake yogurt and decided to try it.  Let me just tell you...YUM!  It's the Kroger brand Carbmaster yogurt.  The carrot cake part intrigued me, but I was a little skeptical due to the fact that this is a low carb, low cal, low fat yogurt.  However, I was very pleasantly surprised!  It is actually thicker than I thought it would be, giving it a sort of cheesecake-like feel.  I think I may have to go pick up some more of this deliciousness tomorrow!

On a side note, I took my oldest daughter in for an appointment with a new eye doctor today and one of the ladies that works there actually asked if we were sisters...  Awww, shucks!  But, seriously, who are you trying to impress lady?  Ha!

Strep, boo!

Today I took my younger daughter out on a lunch date.  She hasn't felt well for a couple of days, but she wanted to go.  She had been complaining of a headache, but during lunch, she wasn't able to eat much because she said her throat hurt too badly.  So, we stopped by The Little Clinic on our way home and found out she has strep throat. :(  No fun!

I had wanted to shop for some new black dress pants today because I need them for when I work my per diem job.  I have none that fit me.  I had bought a new pair in October when I started working these events (I haven't worked any since December, but have a few coming up this month).  Last week, I put them on and they literally fell off of me when I walked up the stairs!  I am not complaining, though.  It's a good problem to have.  However, finding pants that fit me well seems to be a very difficult task.  Seriously, it's insane.  Looks like I will have some shopping to do this week!

Going back to 2nd grade

Tomorrow will be another day spent volunteering in my son's classroom.  I imagine I will be doing pretty much the same as I did last week, reading with kids.  He is super excited that I'm coming back!  His teacher has offered me an open invitation to come in any Friday that I'd like to, and my son has told me that he wants me to come in EVERY Friday.  I am enjoying the fact that he still wants me to come in and that he will still give me hugs and kisses in front of his friends (and his entire class)!  Aw, I love my sweet little man SO much!