Checking things off

Yesterday was a much more motivating day - well, at least the morning was!  As normal, I start my Thursday morning with my TOPS meeting.  I gained 1.25 lbs this week, but I guess that's not too bad considering it was over Christmas.  Coulda been worse!!!  Especially if I wouldn't have had my workouts in!  I didn't get them everyday, but did get them more often than not.  I was just a couple pounds short of my 25 pound year-end goal - I finished the year's meetings down a total of 22.5 pounds.  Not bad considering I was pregnant most of that time!  Time to think about what my goal should be for the next year since we do a 'rededication' at the first January meeting.  I definitely want to hit the 25 pound mark before my 1 year anniversary with TOPS, which is March 24 (Beau's birthday!)

**When I was getting ready to go to my TOPS meeting, I went out to start the car and realized I didn't have my Bluetooth with.  I had left it on the counter since the battery was dead.  Since I was going to be in the car, I prefer to use it so my hands are free.  I went back in the house and was looking all over the counter and couldn't find it at first.  Then I found an old key chain that had been hanging on the hooks over the counter.  The key chain was laying on my Bluetooth.  It was a Guardian Angel key chain. I think someone was leaving me a sign that he knew I was thinking of him :) **

I got a lot done yesterday too!!  I went to my favorite consignment store, where I thought I had about $6 on credit, cuz Scrappy needs another pair of jeans (I recently realized having only 1 pair of jeans is not sufficient for him since khakis don't match everything and sweatpants aren't always appropriate.)  Turns out I had over $10 - a nice surprise!  Since it is the end of the year, she cut me a check for my credits, which I used to pay for his jeans ($5 for a pair of almost new Wranglers?  Works for me!)  I made an appointment while I was there to bring some stuff in next week.  I was surprised she got me in so soon since it's normally 1-2 months out!!  She's looking for 'springtime' stuff, and will always take jeans.  Since cleaning out my storage unit, I've found a lot of clothes that didn't sell at my past garage sales.  These things would be perfect to take up there - just have to make sure they're washed first.  And she has a limit of 50 items per appointment, so once I sort through the clothes I'll have to count what I have.  I know I'll need to make an appointment to take in some summer stuff, maybe a second appointment for spring stuff and/or jeans.  My appointment is for January 5.  The Epilepsy Foundation will be picking up on January 4, so anything I'm not taking to consignment is going to them.  Hubby reminded me to go through the stuff up to 2T so that if/when we have another little one, we have some clothes for him/her.  I found a few old onesies belonging to Scraps that I'm going to hold on to.  I have an 18 gallon tote full of maternity and baby clothes along with other miscellaneous items, like bottles, liners, pumping equipment, etc. 

After the consignment shop, I headed to pay the balance on the property taxes and picked up the other 5 cans of Scrappy's DuoCal.  Went to Shopko to pick up his prescription, but turns out insurance won't cover the saline nebulizer solution.  It's only $19 for 100 vials though.  Too bad I only had $5 on me though, so I couldn't pick it up.

I called hubby as I was leaving town to see if he had plans for lunch since I was coming to town to get the kids.  He didn't so he ordered pizzas to be ready when I got to town since Grammy and Opa had treated us last week and since they had watched the kids.  I told hubby I had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon, so just asked if he stop and pick up the meds on his way home.  (As it turned out, insurance wouldn't cover mine prescription either, so they had to find a generic and order it in for next day delivery.)

I've been having a lot of pain in my side, next to where my incision is, and there doesn't seem to be any logical reason.  There's no redness and there's no actual injury (cut, rash, anything).  And I didn't know if my incision was healing since I've had a yeast infection in the skin around it.  My doc was out, so I saw is Physician's Assistant.  The yeast infection seems to be clearing up, there is one small spot on my incision that is still open, but looks ok, and he couldn't feel or see anything that would leave him to believe I had an infection.  He thinks the pain is due to nerve damage from the surgery.  We are going to try a topical cream to see if that helps.  If it doesn't, then we'll try with a pill.  I told him I just need something to get through until I have my next OB appointment at Mayo on January 10.  So we'll see what happens.  (I'll have to wait until hubby gets home though.  I have anxiety issues when driving in bad weather - it started raining about the time I went to bed last night, and now has turned to snow.  Which means the roads are slick.  And there are too many idiots out there.  He can just pick it up on his way  home - hopefully!)

By the time we got home, I just wanted to relax.  I was exhausted, but I'm sure it's because I had such awful heartburn I didn't get to bed until after 2, then Scraps woke me up at 6:30.  I love my kids, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I just wish they would sleep - or at least let me sleep.  I was trying to nap while they were watching cartoons and putting puzzles together, but every time I closed my eyes, all I hear is "Mo-om!" as Beau loves to make it into a 2 syllable word. Grrr.  I didn't do anything after getting home except to make supper then lounge again in my recliner.  After hubby got home, I did nap a little bit, then read a little before heading to bed.  My whole body just ached and I didn't know why - just hoped I wasn't getting sick!!

I guess missing a workout really does show!  I didn't do my workout Wednesday because of the all the work with the freezer/refrigerator, and yesterday was too busy and I was too tired.  This morning the kids were begging to play their Monster Jams Wii game, so I figured I better get my workout done before they take over the TV.  I used it as bribery for treatments this morning too :)  So while Scrappy did his vest, I did 51 minutes on the Fit Plus - and I was sweating :)  And my body feels SO much better - especially my back!!

I need to get lunch going for the kids - we're having leftovers.  Going to make an easy supper too - a Banquet family meal we have in the freezer.  Then I can get a little more done around the house today without having to worry about making a mess or taking much time on supper.  Have a lot of sorting to do before the EF comes to pick up! (Plus, since they take stuff in garbage bags, I'll be cleaning out some totes so I have more of them to use for other things!!)

Christmas

It's the day after.  Everything is simmering down.  For the next week I have both children home.  We may be getting to go play outside later this week because of the unusually warm Minnesota weather - it's been over 40 degrees!!  A Christmas without snow makes it difficult to get into the Christmas spirit though.  I haven't been feeling it much this year.

However, I am happy to know I am partially responsible for giving someone the best Christmas present they wanted:  My mom wanted all 4 of us kids together for a picture, and also our kids and significant others.  It's the first time all of us kids have been together (other than Little Warrior's funeral, but that was not the time or place to do it) since my husband and I got married a little over 4 years ago.  Here we are (and yes, most of us are in pajamas since that was the theme this year.  My hoodie and pj pants were the best I was going to be able to do.... hubby passed on the pj idea):

I know the two pictures look almost the same, but as I was checking them out, I noticed something interesting.  Look in the first picture, you may notice some floating spots or orbs in the picture and one right above my husband's head.  In the second picture, we see the orbs again, and this time there is one right on my stomach. 

Now, I'm not majorly superstitious, but I've learned that there are signs in life and it's a matter of if we choose to see or not to see them.  Like I had said last week, I believe that the sun coming out to shine was a sign that our Little Warrior was watching over us and knew we were there to visit him.  I think the orbs in these two pictures are there for a reason.  I think it's his way of letting us know that he knows we're thinking about him and he was there with us.  I think God lets those special people close to us give us signs that they're ok and they're watching over us when we need that comfort and peace.  I told my mom that I thought it was sign from him, and she thinks so too.   When I asked my husband about the orbs, he laughed at me and told me that people would think he was strange if he said what he thought.  But that's because he agreed with me and thought the same.  We have our own guardian angel watching over us.

I spent a somewhat 'lazy' day today with Scrappy hanging out at home.  Beau spent the night having a sleepover with our cousins and rode home with Daddy when he got off work.  Wait - I take back that 'lazy' comment.  I don't think getting 1 1/2 hour workout in counts as lazy, even though it was fun and it was with my new Wii Fit Plus game.  My stomach (someday possibly to be known as my 'abs' - if they truly are buried in there somewhere!!! lol!!) is a little sore from working those muscles.  I've been hesitant to do any abdominal exercises for the past few weeks, but since it's been 6 weeks since my surgery, I thought it should be ok now to try at least a little.  Especially since I consider that to be one of my 'problem areas.'

Since both kids are home for the next week, I have a lot less running to do on a daily basis.  I do have an appointment tomorrow morning, and since we'll be out we need to drop off some payments and run to the grocery store for milk.  I try to only make one trip out, or go when I pick Beau up or drop her off at school I try to get all my running done then and schedule appointments accordingly.  It really makes things easier if I already have Scrappy in the car and don't have to get him out and in the house, take off his coat, hat, and boots, then put them all back on 15 minutes later.

I also told Beau that we need to sort through and get rid of some of her and Scrappy's old toys.  They got plenty of new toys for Christmas, so some things have to go to make room for the new.  They have WAY too many toys.  When I have my garage sale in the spring, there are going to be PLENTY of toys to go.  I'm not going to bother with all the stuffed animals and a lot of the small stuff.  Thankfully the Epilepsy Foundation will be picking up next week, so hopefully I can get a bag or a few bags out for them.

**Note to self - (Since I'm thinking of it right now, I'm gonna write it so I don't forget)... After the 1st of the year, I am going to need to keep better documentation of a few things for tax purposes, especially because of my business.  I need mileage for both vehicles as of January 1.  I'm going to keep a binder with all of Scrappy's medical appointments at Mayo since we can write off the mileage on those too.  I'm also going to create a file for donations since I'll be doing a lot of sorting out and we'll be donating quite a bit.  I need to print out the kids' care sheets too so I have a copy of those on hand for 'emergency reasons' - you never know what's going to happen!  And I suppose I should call to check on the deeds for our cemetery plots.  I thought we would have gotten them by now..... hmmmm....

Well, there's a lot on my plate for tomorrow...  Wish sleeping in was on the list, but that's not in Scrappy's book....  Hopefully after some cleaning, some time with Zumba will be on my plate!!