Leaving on a Jet Plane..

and I'll be back again on Saturday. I'm taking the laptop, so watch for updates! I may not update every day since I'll have to pay for internet access. This time tomorrow, Ill be in DC! Have a fabulous week!

I'm back!

I survived the virus. I went back to work today and stayed the whole day, although I did have have a few queasy moments. I'm not really eating yet either, but that should help my weigh-in on Monday. :)

We got our taxes done tonight and we have to pay in yet again. It could be worse, but it's very frustrating to work 3 jobs and still have to pay in each year.

I am working tomorrow, then I'm off until Tuesday when I fly to Washington D.C. for a conference! I am so excited!!! I've never been there and while I'm the only one going from my office, several of my state buddies will be there. I'll be visiting Capitol Hill and delivering materials about the importance of quality child care to my senators and representatives in the Capitol Building. Cool stuff!

I'm exhausted and ready for bed. Have a great Friday!

Sick

Warning: You are about to be supplied with way too much information.

I have lost 7 pounds since 3:30 am. It is now 11 am. My new diet involves sitting in the bathroom with my head in the trashcan.

I feel terrible.

I'm going back to bed.

Easter..Part 1

Yesterday we had an Easter egg hunt with the kids of all of my scrapbooking buddies. We met for lunch at Delmonico's, then hunted eggs inside at my church since the ground was so muddy outside. The kids had a great time hunting and playing together and the adults had fun watching and visiting.

Last night was our monthly Crazy Croppers crop. I organized our Florida vacation pictures so I'll be hopefully be able to complete my album when I go to Cropical Paradise in May. My buddies and I have rented the entire house for the weekend. We have so much fun at our monthly crops that I'm sure we'll have a blast going away for the weekend together. It's also going to be National Scrapbook Day while we're there. Fun times!

Tonight my friend, Katie, and I are going out to dinner. I haven't seen her since Christmas, so we have some catching up to do. Not sure where we'll go yet.

Tomorrow is church, then to Mom's for Easter lunch. Mom has had some chills and nausea, but has done pretty well with her latest round of chemo. She felt like hosting Easter, so off we go.

Have a terrific Easter!

Cheap Date

Greg and I had a Red Lobster gift card and some free movie passes burning a hole in our pockets, so tonight we had a very cheap date. We had a lovely seafood dinner and then went to see The Spiderwick Chronicles. The movie was ok. I'm glad we didn't take Carson. It's a little too intense for young kiddos.

My friend, Tasha, helped convince me to set up the MySpace page I signed up for over a year ago, so that 's what I've been doing for the last few hours. If you're on MySpace, check it out. I need some friends.

Tomorrow I have 2 babies to evaluate, then I'll be ordering our new cell phones since it's time for an upgrade. I'm excited about geting a camera phone again. I think I need a pink phone. I'm sure it will help me talk and hear so much better. :)

Friday I am hosting an egg hunt for my scrappin' buddies and their kiddos, getting our picture taken for the church directory, then cropping for the rest of the evening. Saturday is dinner with my friend, Kate, and her boyfriend (fiance???? not sure if that's happened quite yet), then Sunday is Easter. Not sure what our plans will be for Easter dinner. We'l have to see how Mom feels after tomorrow's round of chemo.

That's it for now. I need to get to bed!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

It needs to stop raining. We are having massive flooding all over the southeast Missouri area. My parents are staying at my grandma's house because both of the routes to their house are closed. Greg's parents had to go 2 hours our if their way to get home from Nashville. I only had 7 of my 12 students in class tonight. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow too.

My seven-year-old nephew, Andrew, had hip surgery yesterday and he's in a lot of pain. He'll be in the hospital in Nashville, where he lives, for several more days. He has a degenerative hip condition, so he may need more surgeries in the future. Keep him in your prayers.

My mom had her second round of chemo today and had no side effects! Yay! She goes for another round on Thursday.

Greg and I had a great time at the Mark Schultz concert on Friday night. It's always fun to go to a concert when you know all the songs and everyone sings along. Here are a few pics:

Greg looks a little scared. The concert was at a huge church in St. Louis. There were several hundred people there. We had great seats because another couple was nice enough to offer us a spot next to them in the second closest section of pews. Wasn't that nice?

Here's a picture of Mark Schultz. He's funny and just an all around great guy. You should buy all of his CD's. I know you'll like'em. This was our third time to see him in concert.

We stayed at the new Forest Park Drury Hotel. It's very pretty. We slept in and then came home and got ready for our friends, The Moores, to come over for dinner and some Wii games. The boys had fun playing together and we had fun seeing how smart we were on Big Brain Academy.

On Sunday we stayed home and I surfed the internet basically all day. I got caught up on all of my blogs and read tons of info on the DisBoards for our trip. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Yesterday I worked in the office and went to see one of my therapy babies after work. I stayed home today since Greg's parents were in Nashville for Andrew's surgery and I didn't have a babysitter for Carson. We watched the rain and Carson got to watch movies in my bedroom while I worked on prep for my class tonight. He was thrilled.

It will be interesting to see if we can get to work tomorrow with all of the flooding. It looks like we're in for a wet Wednesday. Stay dry if you're one of my local readers!

It's Thursday!

Mom's chemo went well. She had a few side effects, but they were manageable. She was having "ice cream therapy" at Cold Stone Creamery when I talked to her at 4:30. She was finished in far less than the 8 hours they had predicted.

I had a long day at work. I worked in the office all day, then tonight I served on a panel discussion of resources for parents whose children have been newly diagnosed with autism. I have a pretty good idea of what these parents are dealing with and it's not a fun place to be. They still had the deer in the headlights stares and seemed to be afraid to ask too many questions. I'll expect some phone calls next week after the information sinks in. It's still weird to me to be presented as an expert on anything, much less autism, but I am so glad to help these parents get the services their children need.

I completely forgot to stop by Bunco to hand out the prizes after the panel discussion. I didn't remember until I was in my driveway! Greg's mom delivered my snacks and prizes and the girls made it just fine without me. Hopefully I'll actually get to play the next time I'm scheduled to host Bunco. Oh well!

When I got home I had a message from one of my sister's best friends, Marge. She is having Greg's mom make her wedding floral centerpiece and wanted to drop the flowers off with me. She also asked me to be a server at the wedding, which was unexpected, but very flattering. I love a party! I've got exactly three months of Operation Skinny Minnie before the wedding.

Carson and I are hanging out at home tomorrow, with a possible run to the library. I'll be dropping him off at my grandma's house, then picking Greg up at work and rushing to the Mark Shultz concert in St Louis. I can't wait!!!

Skinny Minnie Stats: no exercise today due to blisters from the previous 2 days! Weight watchers points are entered.

Change

I've decided that I can safely unveil my new plan for reaching a healthy weight. In the past, I've started telling people that I was on a new plan before I was truly committed, and then ended up not sticking to it and feeling like a huge failure.

This time, I've been at it for 4 weeks and can safely say that I'm back in the "loser" mindset. On the way home today, I realized that I was looking forward to stopping at the park for a walk. That hasn't happened in a couple of years. The exercise has been very rough, but I was noticbly less winded today. I still don't "enjoy" the actually act of exercising, but I am starting to get the craving for that feeling that happens when I push a little harder.

I have tracked my Weight Watcher points faithfully for 4 weeks. As of Monday, I was down a little over 8 pounds. I've averaged about 2 pounds a week, which is the way I need to do it to keep it off. It's amazing how my cravings for sweets and snacks have disappeared since I started journaling all my food again. It's so much easier to back away from the Cheetos when I see that one little bag will cost me five points. I could have 5 apples for the same number of points.

I've got several motivators to get the weight off this time. My mom's cancer has been a huge wake-up call. Being overweight and eating a diet high in animal fat are huge risk factors for cancer. I'm also hearing that little biological clock start to tick a little louder and I really want to be on as little medication as possible and have my blood pressure under control before I get pregnant. The last motivator is that I'll be damned if I'm going to Disney World at anywhere near my current weight. I want to be able to walk all over the parks without my feet killing me and I really want to be able to get some cute clothes to wear on our trip. I have therefore decided to call my new plan "Operation Skinny Minnie." Disney World, here I come!

My mom starts her chemo tomorrow, so please keep her in your prayers. She'll be receiving the chemo drugs for about 8 hours tomorrow. It will go more quickly the next time. She's ready to get started and get finished.


Skinny Minnie stats for the week so far:

pounds lost=2.6
Minutes walked=60
Miles walked=3.25


“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

Weekend Update

I had a fabulous time at Michele's party last night! We met at her house for predinner drinks, then headed to Port Cape for dinner and some games, then back to her house for dessert. I opted to ride the party shuttle, which was a good thing since I hadn't had that much to drink in quite a while. Those Electric Popsicles and Incredible Hulk cocktails went down pretty well. :) I am so happy that Michele has beaten cancer and is back to living life! Here are some pics from last night:
Michelle and Me

Tasha and me

The Whole Group

Scrapbook pages I made for Michele

We decided to cancel the trip to Springfield until April. It seemed a little silly for Greg to miss work without pay for a nonemergency appointment. We'll go when he gets more vacation next month. My plans for tomorrow are to stay home and get everything in order for our taxes. Fun.

Today Greg decided to clean house. (Are we in another dimension?!?!) I sat and watched him dust, vaccuum, mop, and put the laundry away. It was awesome. After that, he and his dad assembled our new entertainment center. It's actually a hand-me-down from Greg's uncle, Floyd, but it's a lot newer, nicer and bigger than our old one. Floyd is getting a new plasma TV, so he no longer needed it. It looks great and has plenty of storage for my scrapbooks, something I've never had before. I love freebies!

This week I work out of town on Tuesday and in the office Wednesday and Thursday. I somehow literally scheduled myself to be in two places at one time this Thursday night. I'll be setting up for Bunco, then walking across the street to the nursing building to be on a panel discussion about autism, then running back across the street to hand out the prizes for Bunco. Crazy! Friday night, Greg and I are headed out for a little getaway. We'll be going to a Mark Schultz concert, then staying at the newest Drury hotel at Forest Park. I am ready to get away!

That's it for now. I am determined to finish Nineteen Minutes tonight. It's a great book if you're looking for something new to read. Have a great week!

Tagged and Turkey Time

I was tagged by Brooke!

The rules: Link to your tagger and post these 3 rules on your blog. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



1. I would love to be a morning person. I'm just wired to be a night owl.



2. I will not eat wild game of any kind. I know it's crazy, but those animals have not had their shots and may be carriers of some crazy disease. I never said I was rational.



3. I used to have to have perfect conditions to fall asleep. After being in the hospital and living at the Ronald McDonald House when Carson was born, I can sleep anytime, anywhere.



4. I love to daydream about all the people I could help if I won the lottery.



5. If I had the money, I would be all about some plastic surgery. New boobs, butt, thighs, and a tight tummy.



6. I really want to build a house with a wraparound porch.



7. I loaded my ipod with tunes from the Go-Go's. I love'em!

I am tagging Becky, Dawn, Rebecca, Theresa Marie, Heather F, Lilian, and Shannon

I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I slow cooked a turkey breast in the crock pot all day, then made cream cheese mashed potatoes, cheesy vegetables, and hot rolls. Yummy! So far, I've been doing ok with eating small portions of what I want and still losing at Weight Watchers. Hopefully, this will continue to work. Here's what I made:

Tomorrow I need to work on a little gift for my friend, Michele. She has just finished her chemotherapy and has beaten colon cancer!!! She is hosting a huge girl's night out tomorrow night to celebrate. Should be fun!

The ABC's of Amy

A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: I am blesssed with great girlfriends
C- Cake or Pie: Apple pie
D- Day of Choice: Friday-my day off with Carson
E- Essential Item (s): computer
F- Flavor of ice cream: cheesecake from Marble Slab Creamery
G- Gummy Bears or Worms: Bears.... I'm not real big on gummy anything
H- Hometown: Jackson, MO
I- Indulgence(s): pedicures
J- January or July: July
K- Kids: Carson, age 5 and maybe one more baby next year
L - Last movie seen in theaters/DVD: I can't remeber
M- Marriage Date: May 22, 1999
N- Number of Siblings: 2 Jeremy is 28 and Julianne is 23
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples
P- Phobias or Fears: Open water-I like to see what I'm swimming in
Q- Quote(s): "I get up every morning determined both to change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes, this makes it difficult to plan my day."
R- Reason To Smile: I'm going to Disney World!
S- Season: Fall
T- Tag Four: Becky, Rebecca, Heather, Dawn
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I secretly want to be a chef
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I go through phases where meat grosses me out, but sometimes a girl has to have a cheeseburger
W- Worst Habit: Cussing..I'm working on it
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds.. I had them round the clock when I was hospitalized before Carson was born
Y- Your Favorite Food: Fattening Southern Food..Chicken and Dumplings, Kettle Beef, Fried Chicken, Pecan Pie
Z- Zociac: Taurus

My back finally stopped hurting! I went back to work today and surprisingly didn't have too much to catch up on. I was able to clean and tidy my cubicle and begin preparing for the training I have on Saturday.

Tomorrow is a luncvh meeting, then finishing the prep for my training. My laundry has gotten way out of control since my back was out, so it looks like Friday will be spent at home catching up on the laundry.

On Sunday we leave for Springfield, MO to get a second opinion on Carson's eyes. I just want to make sure he really needs another surgery. We've never been to Springfield, so it should be an adventure. It's about a 4 hour drive from here.

Carson is calling me to the bedroom to watch the Disney Vacation Planner DVD again. He's as addicted as I am! Have a terrific Thursday!

Craziness

Sunday: High of 73. Sunshine. Moderate winds.

Today: Ice on trees. Snow/sleet/freezing rain. High in the low 30's.

The power has gone off 3 times so far today. Right now it's on. Cross your fingers.

Missouri is a crazy place.

I am home today. My back still hurts and it's driving me insane. The heating pad is my friend.

I just cancelled class. My students probably wonder if we'll ever get back on track.

I'm going back to bed.

It's Official!

Carson and I went to AAA and booked our Disney World Trip on Friday. We will be staying at the Pop Century Resort for 8 nights during the second week of December. We watched the planning DVD that the travel agent gave us today. Carson screamed, "Yeah, Baby! Yeah! I'm gonna ride that!" for every single ride that was shown on the DVD. I think he's a little bit excited.

Our weekend trip to St Louis went well. I got this ipod. I spent this afternoon loading it up with my favorite tunes.I hurt my back this morning and it's still killing me. I went for mile and a half walk, thinking that might help loosen up the tightness in my back. I also didn't want to waste another day of potential weight loss by not walking. It helped for a couple of hours, but now it's killing me. I'm headed to bed in hopes that I'll feel better in the morning. Make it a great week!