What a Wonderful World

I love this song, most specificity - Sarah Brightman's version. Sweetie and I adore her.

That is truly how I am feeling right now. Today was my last half day of work as Bug goes back to school tomorrow. I have loved coming home, having lunch with Sweetie and then enjoying the afternoon with Bug. But I know that she misses her friends.

Today, after a two hour nap - Oh how I love that she is so snuggly, we went to Target. She stood in the main part of the cart and was the best baby ever. Twice, even though she was being a big girl, she turned and gestured to me that she wanted to be held. The second time, right before we were leaving, she even put her head on my shoulder for the longest time. She is amazing.

I got a pedometer so that I can do the 10k steps a day challenge (15k if you are trying to lose weight, as I am). I need to remember to take it to bed so that I can get every step possible logged tomorrow.

And, we are completing another good day on Phase One. The scale even went down!! A first since starting my meds.

Today is administrative assistant's day. I got a balloon. I need to focus on the thought. But it kind of irked me. This is going to come across snobbish and rude - so let's remember the rules of the sandbox - my blog = my opinions. When I first walked in and saw the balloon, I smiled. It is blue with daisies and read "Thank you for all that you do!" Work has been "less than" and only being there half a day has sucked. I figured my boss was doing something to make me feel better. Well, she was and I need to focus on that. I wasn't at work long before the balloon turned and I saw the other side "Happy Assistant's Day". I was a little shocked. I am on the "management team" of my office. Of course, the management team is almost 50% of the office, but I digress. I am in charge of running the office, tracking people's comings and goings, enforcing our dress code (no open toes unless you have a defined heel), and other responsibilities.

I am not an assistant. I am not a receptionist or secretary (although I do answer the phones and greet people as part of many other duties). I am the Office Manager. I have two freaking degrees - of which I am using neither at this job. I know it sounds bad, but with every "oh yes, happy assistant's day" from the staff as they noticed the balloon, I wanted to scream that I am not up to my eyeballs in student loan debt to be called an assistant. My Mom has received flowers and such on Secretary's Day in the past. She was never offended and I never thought she should be. I think if I was in the office environment that she was in at that time that I would not have thought twice either.

I am trying to make this work or leave before my view of this organization that I love changes.

But back to the title - I know how lucky I am. I know there are MUCH worse things that could go wrong. And that not feeling completely fulfilled at work is NOT the end of the world.

OK, I must get to bed, I have 10,000 steps to aim for tomorrow.

Yard Nazi

I got to be in full-force mom mode today. Two kids were using our backyard as a cut through. I totally caught them and was able to yell at them. We are fixing the fence this weekend. I do not want to take the chance of a kid getting hurt sneaking through and being sued.

I remember being a kid and yelling at the much older kids cutting through my mom's yard. I think I have always been at least 30.

I was not feeling well this morning, so I did not go to the other interview planned. Instead I enjoyed a nap with Bug - yay.

Tonight, I made dinner, shrimp stirfry - shrimp, snowpeas, mushrooms, bell pepper, green onions, olive oil, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Yummy yummy. Sweetie was working late so Bug and I took him dinner. He was very appreciative. Today, other than feeling bad earlier, we had another good day on phase one.

Deb requested that we post a memory. Summer: Peanut butter cookies fresh from the oven. My mom in the yellow kitchen with mid-morning sun. Summer days long enough to exhaust a kid. Being able to be gone most of the day with only saying "I'm going to play, Mom, see you soon". Riding my bike with friends to 7-11 to get slurpees - coke and cherry mixed, eating an astro pop outside while sitting with my grandpa on the curb, fresh cut lawn, falling backwards into the neighbor's pool, and falling in love with Sweetie.

Withdrawal

I have been so bad with my blogging. And, Crista, I got your tag and am working on the list.

I have been taking care of Bug, with Sweetie's help of course. She is doing much better. While still covered in pox, they are much less than they were on Saturday - her worst day.

I was at work half a day today. I am working the mornings until Bug goes back to school. Then Sweetie was nice enough to watch Bug while I went to an interview. It went well. I should know this week. Don't worry, I am weighing more than just money in with my decision.

Sweetie and I started South Beach phase one today. For those of you who do not know, South Beach is about the right carbs (fruits and whole grains), proteins (lean meats, peanut butter, lowfat dairy), and fats (canola and olive oil for example). Phase one is two weeks without the fruits and whole grains to jump start weight loss and reduce cravings. Today was good. I had turkey bacon and a chai tea (homemade) for breakfast; chicken, pecan, and spinach salad with cheese for lunch; lowfat lunchmeat, lowfat cheese, and a pickle for snacks; diet cokes to help curb the cravings; rosemary salmon (I made it myself), cooked spinach, and iced tea for dinner; and sugar free pudding for dessert. YUMMY.

Since I knew South Beach was coming, I have been eating badly, and having a ton of candy with Easter. I am totally feeling the withdrawal. But it is nothing to stop me. I am determined to complete phase one. Brother is even altering our family dinner on Friday so that we can stay on plan. It is so wonderful to have Sweetie doing it with me. He totally loved the salmon I made tonight - shhhh don't tell him, but it was way easy.

We dropped the gym last week. The thirty day trial was up and we realized we had not used it as much as we wanted. We are going to focus on an exercise habit at home and then going back to the gym later.

I was so excited about Motive falling on my 30th b-day. The thought of celebrating with a half marathon sounded perfect for me. Problem? My graves. Muscle fatigue is a huge problem, mainly leg, from what I have discovered from my research - and why walking 30 minutes can kick my butt now. While I would love to train and see how far I can get, I want to be able to make other b-day plans if the 13.1 miles will be too rough on me. I am not giving up yet. Training doesn't start until May 15th.

I can always alter my plan to run the Susan G Komen Race for a Cure, which falls one week before my b-day. It would still be a challenge, as I have never run a 5k. But it would be less time on my legs. I will, as always, keep everyone updated on this decision.

Chicken chicken chicken, can I have some pox

This has been a crazy week. Monday and Tuesday we hit all time highs. Hitting 100 in April. Let me repeat that. 100.In.April. Tuesday night we had a good sized storm and our temp yesterday only hit 91 - yay a cold front. Then today we had a HUGE thunderstorm. Actually at my house we had three rounds of storms with two having a lot of hail.

Luckily, I was home during the bad storms today. Why was I home, you might ask? Yesterday, the school noticed a couple of blister bumps on Bug's head. They were not concerned enough to say she could not go to school and she did not have a fever, so I planned to make an appointment sometime today. We even went out to eat last night with HowieMaui and her husband.

This morning she had more bumps. Chicken pox? Of course not. I figured it was a fungus or allergic reaction, although the pox was my first thought yesterday. Sweetie took her to the Dr. Yes, she does in fact have Chicken Pox. My 10 1/2 month old has chicken pox. And she cannot go back to school until Thursday. Since Sweetie was off the morning, I took off the afternoon. We still need to figure the remainder of the time off.

We slept during one of the big rounds of thunderstorms - that made for some good sleeping. I woke to hail. Crazy hail. Car is fine, that is the important thing.

Poor Bug is hanging in there. She is not scratching yet, so that is good.

On the job front. There not any part time jobs at the rate I would need. So I am looking around, putting myself out there - for higher pay to get out of debt faster. Crazy thing? I have two interviews and one meeting with a headhunter next week. We shall see.

Or I am going to try to figure how I can stay home. I know all over the place. What is new?

And although I am immune to chicken pox, I am all itchy, lol.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter. We had a great weekend. Friday was the evening at Mom's with MIL, Sweetie, Bug, and me. Nice and relaxing. Saturday was cleaning and then coloring eggs and visiting with Best Friend, her husband, Sam, Mom, MIL, Bug's GreatGrandpa, Sweetie, and me. Brother and SIL joined us and we finished the evening - after sundown - we went to Outback. Sweetie had a 16oz steak, lobster, and Au jus sauce (meat based sauce). Suprisingly he is feeling good - no throwing up or tummy problems. Even after today with Whataburger for breakfast and BBQ - sausage, hotdogs, and BBQ chicken - for lunch. He is still hanging in there. I would be so sick. I am so proud of him for completing lent. He is so very awesome.

Today was wonderful. We did not make it to church - we were too worried about the church being too crowded to simply sneak Bug out when she gets too rowdy. We enjoyed a relaxing morning and everyone came over for egg hunt, bbq, and games. Bug was cute in her outfit, of course. Sweetie made some good food, and I created a great dessert.

This weekend made me, once again, so thankful for all that I have. My family is amazing. Bug received so much for this first Easter.

Thank you all who made this weekend memorable.

Some pictures:
Photos taken at the park two weeks ago.




Bug's new play area.

Toad family in our backyard.

Sweetie and Bug playing yesterday.


Me, Bug, and her Easter basket this morning.

Bug showing off her Easter outfit.



The yummy dessert. It is supposed to look like a flower. hmmmm At least it was good.

Where Sweetie wants to put a trampoline.

Life

I am feeling good. Life is good. I spoke with a company yesterday. They want, if they chose me, to start in less than a week. I told them that I need to give two weeks. The headhunter was snide and said that I shouldn't let an opportunity in my field pass me by for my current position. I don't think she understands that I truly do not want to burn bridges. I plan to stay connected to where I work.

Tonight, Sweetie, Bug, and I went shopping. Bug's 2nd favorite teacher's last day is tomorrow. This meant a trip to the good ol' target. Bug rode in the main area of the cart. She stood almost the whole time.

I am very lucky. I know this. I am excited about Easter. Tonight we are getting the house ready for the upcoming festivities. I can't wait to see Bug in her outfit.

So, as I have said before, I am letting fate take me where I need to go. I have considered teaching, but I would need to get my teaching certificate and that takes more schooling, lol. If I am meant to be at my current job for awhile, then I will. If I am meant to go back to accounting, it will happen. Or if I am supposed to stay home, I will figure it out. I do not mean that I can simply sit back and let it happen. I am taking an active role in looking for a job, putting myself out there, and researching.

I believe everything that happened in my life molded me into who I am now. The good, the bad and the ugly. Without everything, I would not have my wonderful husband, my beautiful daughter, and my great relationship with friends and family. It is good. Life is good. My point? If you are having a hard time now - remember that perhaps you are in the molding process. Good things will come from this. I believe that to my core. It worked like that for me.

So, back to the present. This Easter has me very happy/emotional/excited. I love Easter. I love dressing up and going to Church, I love the egg hunt, I love the food, I love hanging with my family. My SIL and niece normally have conflicting plans during Easter weekend, but I am so grateful for any time I get to spend with them. But this year, this year we have Bug. This year we get to have her sitting in our lap at Church, we get to watch her hunt for eggs, we get to feed her good food, and we get to show her off to family. Man we are crazy about that little girl.

And I can hoola-hoop TWO hoola hoops at once. And I am good at it.

Test Results In

I love that I give my blood at noon and have the results the next morning before nine.

After 4 weeks:
Weight gain: 4 pounds - but nothing over the last week, so hopefully this is the end of that.

Free T4 - normal range .73-1.95
Was 2.29 and now 1.4 - NORMAL

Free T3 - normal range 2.3-4.2
Was 7.3 and now 4.7 - Almost normal

My Ultrasensitive TSH stayed the same.

I think this is great progress.

The doctor told me to keep the same dosage for another 9 weeks. I go back on June 14th.

So I will continue. I hope that the joint pain goes away soon.

Voicemail

OK so you work for a large telecommunications company. You leave the company. Before getting home on your last day, your access and accounts are deleted/changed and rerouted.

However, after almost FOUR months, the voicemail was not changed. Voicemail.at.a.telecommunications.company.

Bug's school called to let me know she bonked her head. Big bonk. Right before Easter. Well, the Director said "did you get my message?" Well, I didn't. After checking the home phone, cell phone, and work phone, I thought "I wonder about my old voicemail". I call the direct line. Lo and behold I hear "You have reached Missy's voicemail". OMG, they didn't change it. I log into the account. OMG they didn't even change the password. I had 16 messages. Two were Bug's school - obviously they thought they had the correct number - I mean it was MY voice saying MY name. I listened to each message. Nothing extreme. Some funny ones, but nothing I could send on to anyone. When I finished listening, I changed my voicemail. I am so good.

Totally cracks me up.

Then on a flip side. We had our first fraud experience. I was bathing Bug and we got a call from the bank. They needed to ask security questions, it was the fraud department. Sweetie puts me on the phone, I am the main contact for the account. They asked if we used our card for dinner - yes. They asked if we filled up for gas - yes. They asked if we used a cash advance for $197 - no. All I know is that it was a cash advance in California. The fraud was reported, the money never leaving our account. Way to go!!!! We assume the transactions happened at the same time -meaning in TX and CA. That sent up a red flag. I feel great about my banking choices.

If you notice the time, I should be at the gym. Not tonight. I am tired, my wrists are aching. And I am doing a better workout with blogging while drinking my Smirnoff. Sweetie and I rarely drink during the week, but these were cold, and I wanna, and I am almost 30 - I can do what I want.

Now if only I could figure out how to take half a day off on Friday.

Actually work was pretty good today. We shall see, I am going to go where fate takes me.

Randomness on a Tuesday

I do not claim to make sense. Let's see where this goes.

~ I love Italian sodas with cream. Sweetie does not like them.
~ I don't know what I want to do job wise right now.
~ My biggest fear is finding a job that challenges me but has less vacation.
~ Anyone want a part time accountant?
~ I am trying to lose weight for 4th of July.
~ I burnt my lunch.
~ After this post I get to give blood.
~ I might need another Italian soda.
~ I hate it when money is tight.
~ I hope to workout tonight.
~ I still have my headache.
~ I cannot wait to find out my test results.
~ Then I can decide the next step in my healing.
~ We found my keys.
~ I am so excited about Easter that I am going to bust.
~ The song Bug's Easter bunny/chick sings is stuck in my head.

I made a colored Easter egg, I made it pink and blue, and if you hop then you will find my Easter gift to you. Running with my basket with my sweets and cheer, the Easter bunny's wishing you lots of fun this year. Spring has sprung, Easter has come, for all the little children, it's time to laugh and run. Running with my basket with all my sweets and cheer, the Easter bunny's wishing you lots of fun this year.

Stupid headache

I am home today. Not fun. I have felt nauseas and had a headache for a few days now. I don't know if it is the meds, which I think it is, or something else. I got Sweetie and Bug out the door this morning, ate some cereal (very yummy pecan, date, and raisin cereal), and went back to bed. I.slept.for.five.hours. WOW. I guess I needed it.

I no longer feel nauseas, but I have a killer headache. I hate headaches. I really hate them.

This weekend was good though. Sweetie bowled with his company team at the Austin Cup. Sweetie's team was not the best, but was also not the worst.

And last night I had so much fun. We had a spontaneous date with Best Friend and her husband. We bowled - yes a fun weekend of bowling. I even broke 100. YAY.

So other than feeling like crap, I had a great weekend.

Feel the burn

I feel great. The depression went away on Friday and has stayed away. Yay. I ate healthy today. YAY. And I worked out tonight. Let me repeat that, I worked out tonight. As in 20 minutes of walk/running (getting my base before training begins). I did 5 minutes of walking followed by 30 seconds of running for the 20 minutes. The workout felt good and I think I will increase the speed when I go back on Saturday. I worked some abs and did some stretches, they have the neatest stretching chair. I completed my time with some weight training. I am doing a workout from a book called "Perfect Parts". It has a great beginners routine.

The bottom line is that I did a complete body workout. I think this is the first time in 19 months that I worked all my body parts. I think we might just keep this gym membership. It was a wonderful feeling to workout while listening to The Simpsons on my headset.

After work, Sweetie had a bowling practice, so I tagged along - as I got out of my meeting early. YAY. If I am hanging out and not really participating, give me a pad and paper and I will entertain myself for hours. I did this very thing. What I normally do is free write about important topics, plan, and make lists.

This should not surprise anyone.

Well, I started writing about my eating (already was eating "good" for the day). I realize, that where I am in my life now, this could all change next week, I don't want to count anything. Not points, not carbs, not fat, not calories. I want a guideline to eat by with my one day off a week. I know this means that I will lose slower, but it is worth it to me. I also realized that I have been "waiting" for a start date. I say "I think I will go back to WW meetings tomorrow". This means Saturday, Wednesday, Thursday. Things come up and I don't go. That might be work, family, or even sleep.

I already have a start date - Aug 2004. That was my highest weight. That is not going to change. I don't want a new start date as that would mean gaining back all of my weight. So since my start date cannot change, I might as well try my hardest to lose what I can while my meds level out and such.

So I had a healthy salad without dressing for dinner. And I just finished some dried plumes and water - yummy.

I don't want to count anything. I want to adapt a healthier lifestyle that promotes remission of my Graves' as well as keeping up with my beautiful baby girl.

Yay for me today. Eating with healthier choices, working out, and keeping the blues away.

WAY TO GO DEB

First, before posting another word, I must make an announcement. My favorite cancer ass kicking superwoman - IS CANCER FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To make it all about me, once again, this got me very emotionally happy. I have kept my office updated on Deb's story and it brought me much happiness to tell them her wonderful news.

We went hopping tonight - as Easter is fast approaching. I think we did good, some special things for her.

OK I hate to make this so short, Sweetie is almost done making his most delicious baked potatoes.

Touch ups

I had the absolute best weekend. Friday was date night, we ate pizza, watched Rent, and I made rice pudding. Sweetie was not fond of Rent, but the rice pudding made up for it. Saturday was the party. And Sunday was the ballet.

Today was a manager's retreat. This means the other 4 managers and I went to one of their houses and spent the day discussing office procedures. Well, except when we watched the movie 9-5. That wouldn't be bad except it put the end of our meeting an hour late.

Tonight, Sweetie and I got our infinities touched up. Small, and all black, tats can take two times to be fully black. I am so glad we did it.

I am tired, this time change is killing me, so I need to get ready for bed.

Drunk Post

Just got back from my Bug's Teacher's b-day party. I am drunk. My first drunk post. Wow. I think this is the worst I have been since having Bug. No boobies shown, only undies as everyone was showing them, and no kissing, good thing as me being drunk ususally means both.

The night was fun. I am going to really miss Ms Kat when she goes, but I know we will remain friends.

I did dry hump a chair - and it is on tape. We were playing truth or dare.

Maybe I shouldn't post when drunk.

I love Sweetie. He is the best. He drove me and picked me up so that I could drink almost a full bottle of Baleys (spelling who cares about spelling) and two beers.

It was fun, a lot of fun. I owe him big. He even brought Bug to pick me up. She was not happy. But seeing her made me very happy - although not sober.

Sweetie thinks my drunkness is cute and endearing.

The words are blurring. Is that bad?

Now I am laughing.

I love him so much. He is my everything.

OK off to have teh sex with my Sweetie. Yum Yum.