One step forward, two steps back.

We worked a bit on the house today. Actually, I was quite lazy and didn't do as much as I should have. I did, however, do a twenty minute Brazilian aerobics workout AND Britt and I walked for 30 minutes tonight. (the Brazilian thing was something I recorded from Fit tv - fun)
I managed to get a few things put away in Elijah's room and empty some of the boxes from there. If you've read his blog, you would have seen that he was not happy with the state of his room. It's much better now, I assure you.
Britt said he feels as though we took one step forward and two steps back with the house. I think I disagree. While I know sometimes it seems as if we are shifting stuff from one room to another, I know that we are trying to figure out where things go and are realizing that we are seriously lacking storage space in this condo. We just have too much stuff. We have one closet that would work wonderfully to put stuff in, but we are currently using that to house the "cat stuff"..
Speaking of cats. They are about to be the death of me. Now that we are in such a small space, it seems like there is cat hair EVERYWHERE. I don't understand it. I have friends that have cats and their homes don't have cat hair all over the place. How do they do it? UGH. I bought a "Furminator". It's a brush that is supposed to remove the hair before they shed it. I tackled Dude this evening and gave him a pretty good combing with it. Yuck. I was covered and he was livid. Britt had to help me hold him. Dude growled at me the whole time. I think we will have to sedate Tinkerbell before we Furminate her. She will eat me alive, I fear.
I am really liking My Fitness Pal! It's been an excellent tool. It really reminds me of WW, only easier. Kudos to my wonderful spouse for recommending it.
Tomorrow I am meeting my friend to walk. Thankfully she changed our timing up a bit so I don't have to be there at 5:45 am. She is, however, making me walk 4 miles. I can do it. Surely I can do it.
I guess I should go to bed. Tomorrow starts a really busy few weeks for us.

ugh

How come I always miss the cool giveaways on The Pioneer Woman's website? I love her blog, I love her photography, and my whole family LOVES her recipes. Sounding a bit stalker-ish? I hope not. She really is cool and I hope you check our her blog if you haven't already. I meant to tell Lori thanks so much for introducing her to me. I learn all kinds of new things at bunco. We love The Pioneer Woman and Britt now has to have a flip flop fold - which was one of the product reviews at bunco. (product reviews are always fun - one time one of the girls brought a hair dye - for your private area. It was HYSTERICAL)
It's been a good family day. We didn't get as much done on my list, but we did mark a few things off. I think we can get more done tomorrow, which is always a good thing. By the time I get all this stuff put where I want it, it will be time to figure out if we are going to buy or find something a bit larger. ha! I am seeing progress in the house, though.
We took Elijah to the movies to go to see Ironman 2. We really enjoyed it.
One of Britt's friends told him about this my fitness pal website and app. It's awesome!! It's a great way to journal what you eat and what you exercise without having to join WW or anything like that. They have an awesome food database with nutritional info.. Awesome. I have to say it's been incredibly easy to use. Now, staying within my daily caloric guideline?? not so easy. I am craving sweet and salty right now and hoping that will pass in the next few days. I stuck some grapes in the freezer earlier today to help with the sweet craving. I haven't been terrible - and everything I have eaten has been good for me, which is a switch.
My friend wants me to get up at 5:45 on Monday and go run/walk with her. It's not the 5:45 that scares me, contrary to popular belief. It's that I don't think I can keep up with her. At this point, I CAN NOT RUN.. I would hurt myself. i wish I could.. but I can't. maybe a few steps.. I gotta start somewhere, right? She already told me not to sit at home this weekend thinking up excuses. She knows me a bit better than I would like!!
One more day of us all being home together before the work week begins. I plan to enjoy it.

To Do List

I have 17 things on my to do list. I am wondering about something. I have roughly 5 loads of laundry to do tomorrow. Should I change my list to read 21 things or does the five loads still only count as "laundry"? hmm...
Elijah did his blog posting tonight, fresh off of me telling him he was going to have to turn the tv and computer off before too long. We have terrible sleeping habits in our house. I read an article on cnn.com about a man who did an experiment. He stopped using tv, computer, iphone, etc. once the sun started to go down. He went a bit more extreme than I could see myself going. He took out fridge lights and turned off all the lights in his house. Crazy enough by the end of the month he was sleeping more soundly and waking with more energy than he ever had in his life. I figured it was worth a shot in moderation in our own home. So.. tv, computer, and iphone are shut down at 9:00 (except for tonight, because I'm still on the computer and it's 11:33 - I'm the only one up though, so it doesn't really count does it?? he he he) We will get hardcore with it after the weekend. Elijah spends way too much time in front of the tv. (whose fault? I know, I know)
I'm trying to think of a fairly easy class to take online for school next semester. I will have Anatomy and Physiology as well as Literature. I think the two of those will be a bit time consuming so I want something that won't suck the life out of me, but that I might enjoy. Any thoughts? they offer p.e classes. I should take some.

Elijah's Blog

Elijah has started blogging. He is so excited about it! He couldn't wait to get up today and get on the computer so he could blog. His blog is www.elissketchbook.blogspot.com. He's pretty proud of himself.
I went back to the hospital today I Had an ultrasound done on my gallbladder. I don't know if it showed anything. The doctor was supposed to call me but I never heard. I guess we will find out sooner or later. I have so much to do in the next few weeks. I don't have time to have my gallbladder taken out. Seriously. Last year I had a hysterectomy in May. Maybe May will just be surgery month for me. I'm just glad they think it's something minor and not my heart.
I am going to go back to shoe carnival and see if the grandma looking running shoes are still there (Hannah Banana said they were grandma shoes) and if they are, I am going to get them. My friend asked me to start walking, running with her in the mornings and I think I am going to take her up on it. It will be good for me. And she's the kind of friend that will kick my ass if I don't show up!

Heart Hospital

My life is never boring. I have been having pains in my chest and arm for a few days. Yesterday it got a bit worse so we headed to the ER at Arkansas Heart Hospital. I can't say enough about how wonderful they all were. They put me on a monitor right away, drew labs to look at cardiac enzymes, and gave me nitroglycerine tablets. I guess my body doesn't like nitroglycerine. I had a terrible reaction to it, the ekg went nuts sending me in to a full blown panic attack. This earned me an admission in to the heart hospital. fun times. I met the cardiologist late last evening and he said they were going to go in right away and do an angiogram. They went in my wrist with a catheter and injected a dye into my heart so they could look at the flow. Thankfully everything was clear. I was discharged and sent home right around midnight last night. The doctor said there was no need to keep me there since he really didn't think my pain was cardiac related or life threatening. Smart man. Most doctors would have just kept a patient there since it was so late. I much prefer sleeping in my own bed so I was thankful to go home. Since I was armed with the knowledge that my pain was not a heart attack, (and was under the influence of valium, benadryl and a few other things) I was happy to go home. He really thinks my pain is reflux that could be made a bit worse by gall bladder issues. nice stuff. He said prilosec for 30 days and I go see him again on Tuesday to discuss some of the other labs they ran. Everyone at this hospital was WONDERFUL.
Today is Mother's Day. We got in so late last night so we slept in a bit this morning. About mid morning I noticed that I was developing a rash on my arms.. and it was spreading. I was getting hives all over my arms and legs. I think it was from the dye (had that happen once before from a ct scan) I took benadryl and eventually the hives went away. I had to go back to bed because of the benadryl, but I guess that's not such a bad way to spend Mother's Day.
My family is so wonderful.. I had a really good day today in spite of feeling yucky. My arm is a bit sore where they went in with the catheter and I still have the chest pain. My stress level is much lower since I know it's not my heart.
Scary stuff - thinking you are having a heart attack. Maybe the wake up call I needed.

Go To Sleep!!!!

I have three finals to take in the next two days. What am I doing? I'm blogging and messing around on Facebook. Facebook is going to be the death of me if I don't get my addiction under control! Why can't I be addicted to things that are good for me like exercise or getting a good nights sleep? No.. I have to be addicted to crap like diet coke, flour tortillas and the ultimate of time suckers - Facebook.
Elijah started chemo today. It's 11:59 pm and he is still not asleep. He is in his bed and has called for Britt a minimum of three times and me at least four. The last time I had to be firm with him - which sometimes breaks my heart. "Mom, I have something on my mind and I just can't make it go away". "What is it, Elijah?" (I have to admit I said it in a not so caring voice because I recognize his ploy to not go to sleep) "I am just worried that I won't get in to the 4th grade" oh brother. He has tons of homework to catch up on right now and is really struggling with his multiplication facts. I told him earlier this evening, trying to impress how important it was, that he needed to really work hard on all of this stuff so he could pass 3rd grade and move on to 4th. While all of this is true, I simply intended to motivate him not send him in to a tail spin of worry about flunking 3rd grade. Jeesh.
Britt bought a new camera. He's been wanting one for a really long time. We probably needed to spend the money elsewhere but he just passed his test and earned his license that he worked so hard for. We blow too much money on stupid stuff all of the time and this is something he can use for work as well. (Elijah is still sniffling, by the way. I'm waiting for call #5 from his room) The camera is really nice but much like other advanced technology in this house I have no idea how to use it.
The walk this evening was particularly entertaining. I love the city we live in. During my walk I can hear crickets, birds, and frogs but can also hear faint traffic sounds. I find the combination oddly comforting. Baden and I walk this little gravel path that is near our house. It winds through a block in our neighborhood that is sort of wooded. Much to Baden's pleasure, we saw bunnies on our walk today! He was so excited. He acted like a little kid who had just seen Mickey Mouse for the first time. I think for a minute he actually thought I was going to let him off his leash so he could chase after them. "Please, Mom? Oh, please let me chase the bunnies!!!" I laughed out loud at this silly dog. Quite amusing.
Part of me is ready for school to be out for the kids and part of me is dreading it. Elijah needs organization and structure and even though his attendance is sporadic, it does provide him with some of that. I am going to have to get on the ball and get on a better schedule.
Okay. I'm obviously not going to study. I need to go to bed now before the flour tortillas start beckoning from the kitchen. Evil things.

walks continue

I have continued walking every day. Sadly, I haven't walked as much every day though. I think today I did just under a mile. Time just gets away from me. We bought a bed off craigslist for the kiddos. Britt and Joe went to pick it up this evening so we spent most of the evening setting it up. Thankfully I stuck a pot roast in the crock earlier today so that was all ready for supper. We took a break from setting up the new bed and enjoyed a nice supper together.
The bed is fabulous for our small space! It's a beautiful bunk bed with a full bed on the bottom and a twin on the top. Solid wood - just lovely! I think craigslist is the bomb, by the way. We got the bunks for a steal. The original owners paid nearly $1900 when they bought them, we got them for a small fraction of that. Elijah likes them very much. I feel so bad that Hannah doesn't have her own room anymore, but she is only here one or two nights a week. She says she doesn't mind it, but I think she does. Part of me wishes that we had held out a bit longer and tried to find three bedrooms but the other part of me really feels like this is where we are supposed to be. We love this little condo - and if we can ever get things put away, I think we will be quite happy here.
I need to get new tennis shoes this week. Mine are just worn out. I think I have had them for three years now, if not longer. I know I don't exercise regularly, but I have worn these tennis shoes for at least three Riverfests - that's enough to wear out a pair of shoes easily. I am debating between walking shoes, running shoes, or cross training shoes. I found a pair of Nike's that I really liked today but Hannah told me they looked like "Grandma Shoes".. oh well.