Kinda Slow Today

Weekend's over; back to the old grind. Work was kinda slow today. We got a new printer in our office just as I was about to print out all the payperiod reports. The tech said I'd have to wait until sometime later in the afternoon to print. Bummer!

I was really tired today. Guess the weekend just wore me out. My right shoulder started hurting before lunch. I've had this pain for years, but sometimes it gets really bad. Right above my shoulder blade, the muscles tighten up into a knot and the pain radiates down my arm into my hand and I sometimes can't pick up anything or hold something in my hand. After a couple of hours of it radiating into my arm and hand, it turns and goes into my neck and head and I get a terrible headache. The doctors say I have bursitis. For several years, I would be in pain until it got unbearable, then I'd go to a chiropractor for three times a week for three months and they would work it out and I'd be good for about two years. Well, it's been 10 years since I've been to the chiropractor, so it has just gotten worse. My plans are to have the surgery to remove the bone spur in my sinus, then get an appointment with a chiropractor and get this taken care of. Stress seems to bring out the worst of it and I've been under a lot of stress with eSTARS lately.

At lunch, I took a prescription to be filled for Daddy and got a salad from Chick-Fil-A and went back to work to eat. After lunch, the printer was working, so I got my reports done. I went in Kim's office right before getting off and she could tell I was in pain. We went into the bathroom and she prayed for me. The pain eased off, but I felt exhausted. I had planned to go get Daddy's prescription and take it to him, but I went home instead. I layed down on the couch and napped for about 30 minutes.

Now, it's time for some real sleep. Goodnight and God bless....................

Another Weekend Coming to a Close

Another great weekend coming to a close. Had fun this weekend. So glad my family was able to get together yesterday for Hope's birthday party. It's always great when Vance, Michelle and Fox get to come visit. Those visits are few and far between, so I treasure them while they are happening. Vance and I will be going to visit with them next weekend to help take care of Fox while Michelle's gone. I hope and pray that Fox doesn't miss his mom too bad and cry for her while she's gone. I want to see that happy, smiling, funny face of his. He is just too cute!

Went to church this morning. Had another great time during Praise & Worship. God really ministered to people. About a dozen people came to the altar and prayed while we were singing. That does your heart good. You feel like you're really touching God and He's moving in the church when that happens.

After church, I walked out with Tabitha and Hope and gave Tabitha the things Trent left in the car yesterday. Hope asked if I had brought her blankie back. I said no, but that I would bring it to her this afternoon. I called Mama and got her grocery list and went shopping. Then I took her groceries to her and visited a little while. I knew I should have called her from the store when I was getting the M&M's for her. I bought plain and she wanted the ones with nuts. She's very particular about what brands she wants (come to think of it, so is Daddy). Me, I would just be happy that someone was getting the things for me. I sure wouldn't complain about what they got me.

I came home and ate a Lean Cuisine and took a nap. When I got up, Vance said he was going to the store and I told him I needed to take Hope's blankie back to her. I printed out the pictures I had taken at her party and went to their house. Tabitha was cleaning the house and Chad and his friend, Jeff, were working in the yard. They have company coming tomorrow from Texas. Then, the end of the week, her mother, brother, sister and niece are coming. Tabitha carried me out back to show me the grape arbor. There is an abundance of grapes; not quite ripe yet, but they are covering the vines. Can't wait to see what they taste like when they get ripe.

Came back home and Vance was cooking steaks. I have to go easy on the steaks. A lot of calories and fat grams. Beef is something that shouldn't be eaten every day because it takes so long to digest and get out of your body. I have forgotten to wear my pedometer all weekend. I made sure I walked down every aisle in the grocery store to get some steps in. Now that I've revved up my metabolism, I'm hungry all the time. That's not good if I'm not exercising. It's 10:30 right now and I'm starving. When I wasn't eating much, I was never hungry. I think I liked it better that way. I'm afraid I'm going to start gaining weight instead of losing it.

Guess I better go to bed before I go raid the refrigerator. Goodnight and God bless.................

The Gang's All Here!

The birthday girls, Hope and Katelynn.

The kids slept all night. Hope was still asleep when I got up. Trent was just waking up. We let Hope sleep a little longer until Trent couldn't stand it and he woke her up. I cooked pancakes for their breakfast (scrambled eggs for me). We played for a while, then around 10:00 I took Hope home. Trent and I went shopping for her birthday party. She and her cousin, Katelynn, were sharing a party at the skating rink. I bought a Dora vegetable stand and some toys to go in the tub. Tabitha said she didn't have any. Bought Trent a shirt, hat and pair of shorts. Bought Katelynn a pink camo purse. We had to rush home and wrap them, so we were about 20 minutes late.

Got to the skating rink and everybody was on skates. I decided to be on the safe side and take pictures. It's been over 20 years since I was on skates. I used to teach skating to little kids when I was in high school. Could dance on skates; but that was then. I'm a little more careful now that I'm over 50. Even though my doctor said one of the best exercises is in-line skating. Maybe when I get some of this weight off, I'll try skating again. That would be good to take the kids on Saturday mornings.

Chad and Tabitha didn't know that Vance, Michelle and Fox were coming. Boy, were they surprised when they walked in. It was a good party. Hope and Katelynn got a lot of gifts. Katelynn loved the purse I gave her. She put it over her shoulder and took off skating. She wouldn't put it down. She's a sweet little girl. I'm glad she liked it.


Katelynn and the purse I gave her.

After the party, Vance, Michelle, Fox, Vance and I went to Appleby's to eat. Chad and Tabitha had a houseful of company with more on the way.

After we got home, Vance took a nap and I got on the computer to process the pictures I had taken. Got some good ones.

TGIF

Another busy timesheet day. Vance had jury duty today, so he got to sleep late. I had timesheets, so I hit it hard and heavy when I got to work. Talked to Kim for just a minute, then headed to my office to hit the keys.

Mama called. Her weatherhead had pulled loose from her house - the pole on the other end is leaning and pulled it off. Chip and his crew stopped my this morning to see if they could fix it, but there wasn't enough slack in the wire to be able to put it back in place. Kim was in my office when I got off the phone. When I told her, she said she'd go talk to Kenny and see what could be done. I went down a few minutes later, talked to Kenny and Sid and they were ready to send a crew out this afternoon to pull new wire and let Chip reconnect the weatherhead. Called Chip and he couldn't do it until Monday morning. He said it would be fine over the weekend. So, Monday morning they will send a crew out to take care of it.

We had our two year no accident celebration luncheon today - steak, baked potato, green beans, roll, salad and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yes, I ate. I managed to go over 1300 calories today. That kinda scares me. I don't want to make a habit of that. Since I ate all that, I didn't eat any snacks. My boss pulled me over to the side after the meal and asked if I would be able to help them out. Due to budget cuts, we are letting the security guards go at the offices. The guard was the one who closed and locked the east gate every day. Kenny said since I'm the last one to leave after most people in our building have left (unless Kim stays late), would I be responsible for closing and locking the gate every afternoon. I told him I'd be glad to, but there were some afternoons (due to Daddy's doctor's appointments) that I wouldn't be able to do it. He said for me just to let him know and he'd designate somebody else on those days. So, looks like I'm the new Gatekeeper for Gulf Power.

Kim got a call from her sister that her mother was just taken to the hospital. She lives in Tennessee. Kim was going to drive there tonight when she got off work. Her sister said it looked like her body was shutting down. I pray that Kim will be able to see her and bring comfort to her and be able to talk to her about the Lord. I prayed for Kim before I left work.

Michelle called and she thinks they will be able to come to Hope's birthday party tomorrow. That is awesome! Fox will get to see his cousins and we'll all get to see Vance, Michelle and Fox.

I picked up Hope and Trent after work and brought them home with me. Today is Chad and Tabitha's anniversary. Chad gave Tabitha a dozen red roses and they are going out tonight. The kids played with PawPaw while I talked on the phone with Mama. She needs me to go get her some groceries tomorrow. I told her it would probably be after 4:00, because I'll have the kids for a little while in the morning, then I have to go shopping for Hope a present, then we have her party from 1:00 to 4:00. She said that would be fine; anytime I could go to the store.

I took Trent and Hope to see "Shrek, the Third Movie". It was a cute movie. Hope was good until she got sleepy, then she wanted her mama. I got her to sit in my lap and told her we'd go home after the movie. She laid her head on my chest and promptly fell asleep. There was no waking her after the movie. I had to walk clear across the parking lot with her in my arms. A lady asked if she could help me open the door to the car. I told her I was way over in the lot. She said "I feel like I should do something to help you." I thanked her and told her that Trent would be able to open the door. I don't think she saw him when she asked if she could help. She had three or four little kids with her, so I'm sure she's probably had to do the same thing once or twice. Hope slept all the way home and I changed her clothes and she never woke up. Trent was pretty tired, too. He was asleep before I got the light turned out. Now it's my turn. I'm off to bed. Goodnight and God bless.................

I'm Not an Overeater; I'm an Undermover!

Slept hard last night and didn't get up early like I planned. Maybe I'm trying too hard to begin with.

Kim was back today. She's better, but still a little puny. I'm just glad she's better. That virus sounds like a really bad one.

Fran is getting excited about this weight loss thing I'm doing. She wore her pedometer today and we called each other and compared steps. She doesn't get to leave her desk like I do, so she was behind. I just bet she went home and got moving though. She'll probably have me beat when we talk tomorrow.

Since I haven't been getting enough calories to rev up my metabolism, I decided to eat a bigger lunch today. Went to Captain D's and got their baked salmon. It was really good. Been eating my snacks like I'm supposed to. I have to make myself eat, cause I'm not hungry.

Talked to Ricky today. His wife, Terry, was at the class. She's really trying to get those 12,000 steps in. He said she walked 10,000 yesterday. Wow! I'm impressed. But he said she was so sore this morning she almost couldn't get out of bed. I bet. I know I wouldn't be able to if I had walked that much after not exercising for years. I'm way behind on those 12,000 steps. I will eventually get there, but I'm working my way up a little at a time.

I got to come straight home after work today - that's a rarity. I was tired and had a headache. Almost fell asleep when I was sitting on the couch. Had to get up and get moving. I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes. Since I haven't walked on it in ages, I knew I had to take it a little slow. I was wore out after 15 minutes! I probably won't be able to walk on it again until Saturday or Sunday. I will have the grandkids, Hope and Trent, tomorrow night.

I've got to go take something for this headache and get to bed. Goodnight and God bless.............

Things Getting Better

Had planned to get up 30 minutes early and walk on the treadmill. Forgot today was Wednesday and I get up early so I can get to work early. Didn't make it to the treadmill. But I strapped on my pedometer as soon as I got up and vowed to walk more than 3000 steps during the day.

We had our safety meeting. It was boring. As usual, nothing pertains to my job. I had three people tell me that I looked like I had lost weight. Yep, the outfit I wore today; I think I'll just wear it every day. :) I have lost 10 lbs. since April, but I didn't think anybody would notice. It made me feel good that somebody did though.

Mama called and I told her about replacing the battery on her car. She laughed and reminded me of our conversation of two weeks ago when she said "By the time you give me back my car, you'll have to buy a new battery and tires." I told her I was not going to buy her new tires and she better not be speaking a flat tire over me. Her tires are in great shape. She tried to get me to take the money out of her account, but I told her that I would do no such thing. If we had been forced to rent a car for two months, it would have cost a lot more than the parts we've bought for her car. She said she didn't know if she would even be able to drive when she got the car back. I don't think she will have any problem.

Kim was out sick again today. I called and not only is she sick, but so are all three of her granddaughters. I prayed that they would all get better and get back to normal. She got sick at a wedding this weekend. Somebody came to the wedding sick and just spread it around. About 15 other people got sick, too. It's a nasty virus.

I went to lunch and went through the drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A. Car did fine today, thank the Lord. Went to the drug store and picked up Daddy's medicine, then to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things for him and to stock up on some snacks. I've got to remember to eat something between meals. That's going to be hard to do. Carried Daddy his medicine and rushed back to work to eat my lunch.

Had to go by Mama's after work and drop off some money to her. She pays the young man next door to do little odd jobs for her. Like take out her trash and bring in her mail. The doctor told her not to even go outside since it was so hot. Does she listen? No. She goes out and waters plants and feeds her fish.

Rushed home to brush my teeth and kiss Vance and head for church. Three more people said that they could tell I had lost weight. I think it's the black pants. Yeah, I'm gonna have to just start wearing black pants all the time. Had a great service. Pastor Sammy had his pacemaker tuned up today and he was going strong. You could tell he felt great. Hope and Trent said they are excited about spending the night with us on Friday.

I got home and Vance had supper ready. I changed clothes and ate. He's been smoke-free for 7 days today. I'm so proud of him. We went to bed and he talked about how it was hard, but that he was determined and he had passed a major test on Saturday when he went to play golf and didn't smoke. He also has given up his cokes and is drinking water instead. I'm doing better, too. He, too, said he could tell I had lost weight. I think it's the hair. I probably lost about five pounds when Marsha cut my hair yesterday.

Even with the snacks between meals, I still didn't eat 1000 calories today. I've got to try to do better tomorrow. It's funny - most people think you have to starve yourself to lose weight and I have to eat to lose. Got to get that metabolism working again. I did manage to walk over 5000 steps today. That's a little improvement. If it's not too hot, I'm going to start doing laps around the inside of the warehouse in the afternoons before I go home. I did one lap today, but I was in heels and my feet hurt on the concrete floor. I'll change shoes and get to moving. One thing Connie said in her class that I thought was pretty cool - "I'm not an overeater; I'm an undermover." I may just have to make me a T-shirt with that on it.

It's time for me to get my beauty sleep. Before I go to bed, I pray that Sharon's surgery went well today and that she's recovering quickly, without any pain.

Goodnight and God bless................

What a Day It's Been!

I got up this morning starving. What is wrong with me? I'm never hungry anymore. Grabbed some cherries as I walked out the door to eat on the way to work. I can eat about 12 before I get to work. Things went pretty good this morning. Didn't even look at eSTARS. I didn't have time. I have to get these timesheets in that have been backing up on me. Put a pretty good dent in the stack before going to lunch.

I decided to go to Chick-Fil-A where I could get a grilled chicken sandwich and a diet lemonaide. I don't like the idea that I'm drinking anything with nutrasweet in it, but once in awhile won't kill me - I hope. As I was in line at the drive-thru, the car did a cough, the lights blinked on the dash. I revved the engine, placed my order and started to drive around when it died on me. Would not crank. Two Chick-Fil-A employees ran out and pushed me over to the side out of the way and I called Vance - my Knight in Shining Armor. He said he'd be there as quick as he could. I walk up to the window to retrieve my food and go back out to the car to eat. Thank the Lord, the weather was nice. There was a slight breeze and it wasn't too hot. About 45 minutes later, Vance calls and says he is just now able to leave work. I decide to go inside to sit in the A/C for a few minutes. That lasted about 10 minutes. I'm just not comfortable sitting alone in a restaurant. I go back out to the car and find a book by Beth Moore. I think it's something like "Get Out of Your Pit." Something like that. I read until Vance drives up which was about 20 minutes later. He decided it was the battery, so off he goes to the parts store to buy one. He installs it and of course, the car cranks right up. By this time, it's 2:45 and I need to get back to work and shut off my computer and head to the beauty shop.

I manage to do a couple of timesheets before I have to leave to go see Marsha. When I got there, we decided to not only color my hair, but cut it, too. Not short, but in lengths. You know, years ago it was called a shag hairdo. She also texturized it (thinned it out). I think I lost 5 lbs. by looking at all the hair on the floor. I just have such thick hair. It sure does feel lighter and I think it looks pretty good. She styled it straight, but I think we cut most of the straightened hair out, so it should look pretty good when I leave it curly. Our friend, Dianne, came in as I was leaving. Didn't have much time to chat because I had to be at the doctor's office for a weight control class.

When I got to the doctor's office, there was a girl there that I knew. Her husband works with me. She and her sister were there. In all, there were eight of us plus the dietitian. She gave us books and a pedometer and we filled out a questionnaire and each of us was weighed. The main comment I got out of the class was 20 grams of fat, less than 2000 calories and 12,000 steps per day. The key is the exercise. The fat and calories I can do. The 12,000 steps - that's going to be hard. I've worn a pedometer and usually only get up to around 3500-4000 steps per day. I have got to get moving! Looks like I'm going to have to dust off my treadmill and use it even though the digital readouts are broken. I'll just put on my pedometer and turn on the TV and get to walking. If I can get up about 30 minutes early, I could possibly walk 3000 steps, then do it again at night. With the 3000 or more that I manage to walk during the day, I should be able to do it. One lady in the class has lost 20 lbs. in a month. Oh, if only I could do that! She is exercising on something called "The Bean" and she loves it. I'll have to check into that. She said it only cost around $50, but she got extras with it and it was $105.

I came home and all we had to eat was left over pizza from last night. I'm not off to a good start. Well, maybe I am. Cause all I had today was those 12 cherries (40 calories and 0 fat grams) and the grilled chicken sandwich (270 calories and 3.5 fat grams) and pizza (410 calories and 20 fat grams). Connie gave us a Nature Valley Yogurt bar to try. I got strawberry (140 calories and 3.5 fat grams) and it was so good. I've got to buy some of those. I actually did okay today - 860 calories and 27 fat grams. Another thing I'm going to have to do is eat more food. I already know that from going to LA Weight Loss. I used to eat a ton of food and lost a ton of weight. But, I'm just never hungry anymore. That's going to be the hard part. She told us to carry snacks with us wherever we go.

She also told us that she did a study while in college where she went to Golden Corral and watched people eat. She said the fat people would eat stuff like grilled chicken, vegetables, diet drinks. The really skinny people would load their plates with pasta, potatoes, bread, desserts and sweetened drinks. But, they usually left a lot on their plates. One thing I learned by reading some medical reports - anorexics are usually higher in body fat than fat people because they have burned up all their muscle and all they have left in their bodies is fat. I've personally seen two people at work where this is true. One of the men smokes, eats what he wants, is about 50 lbs. overweight and had a very low BMI. The other man works out at the gym every day, eats lots of fruits and vegetables and is very thin. His BMI was 10 points higher than the other man. Boy, did that make him mad.

I think I will go read some of the material Connie gave us and see if I can get started on the right track tomorrow. I will need to get to bed a little earlier so I can get up 30 minutes early to walk on the treadmill. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck and say a little prayer that I can stick with this.

I've got a friend who is going in to have glacoma surgery tomorrow. Please keep Sharon in your prayers.

Goodnight and God bless....................

Better on the Home Front

I sure didn't want to get out of bed this morning. Monday's just seem to come around way too fast. The weekends are just a blur. I got to work and ran some reports for my boss. Decided I was not going to do eSTARS at all this week. I'm too far behind in my work. Kim was in Ft. Walton at a meeting. I miss talking to her. Got busy on my timesheets and would you believe it - I lost one in cyber space somewhere! He was there for the 14th, 15th and 16th, then he just disappeared off the list of employees. I tried everything I could think of to find him, but after 30 minutes, I gave up and emailed the STARS technical support team. Never did find out how they found him, but about an hour later I got an email and he was back. Weird! Very weird! I hope this doesn't happen on a regular basis.

Just ran up the road to Arby's for a sandwich and got back to my desk and ate as fast as I could so I wouldn't use up the entire hour. That way, I can deduct that time from the time I used to take Daddy to the doctor and I won't have to use as much vacation.

Hazel called. Her brother, Buddy, has been diagnosed with colon cancer. He is starting chemo and radiation and then they will try to do surgery. Please pray that it hasn't spread anywhere else in his body. He needs a miracle.

Mama called several times. Her weatherhead (the pipe that connects her electrical wires to her house) has been pulled away from the house about a foot. She cannot afford to be without electricity since she is on oxygen all the time. Chip was supposed to go over this afternoon and look at it and see what could be done. Kim and Kenny went by there this afternoon to check it. It will probably need an electrician to fix it.

I took Daddy to the doctor - the one where Penny and Tiffaney work. Got to see both of them. Daddy is doing good. The kidney infection is gone and the doctor doesn't need to see him for six months. That's a really good thing. After we left the doctor's office, we went by AT&T to see about getting him another phone. He can't hear his ring. The lady was real nice and looked at his phone and found a ring that is loud enough for him to hear, so we didn't have to buy another phone. Had to go to the store for him. As we were on the way to Winn-Dixie, the car kinda coughed (for lack of a better description) and the A/C went off. The car never died, but the A/C was off. I looked and it has a counter on it for about 20 seconds. It counts down and the A/C comes back on. I thought that was pretty cool. I ran in the store and when I got in the car, it wouldn't crank. Daddy got me to lift the hood and he giggled the battery and it started. He said the cables needed to be cleaned. I told Vance about it as soon as I got home and he checked it and said one of the cables wasn't even tightened down. No wonder it quit.

Things are better tonight on the ole home front. It has been two weeks since I gave up caffeine and sugar and five days since Vance has smoked. He's in a better mood and I'm not so emotional. Thank You Lord!!! We stayed in the same room and actually had a conversation. I cooked pizza and he went to bed. I'm so glad the worst is over. Now, I just pray that his health starts to improve now that he's quit smoking. Mine, too. But, his problem is much more serious than mine. Tomorrow night instead of Praise & Worship practice, I'll be going to a weight control class at my doctor's office. Vance is doing great at not eating anything on his list. He got onto me last night for eating potatoes. We had bought those mashed potatoes that you just heat up in the microwave. I didn't want to just throw them out, so I ate some. I'll probably give the rest to the dogs tomorrow night. If he's going to be good, I need to show him that I can, too.

Now, it's time to get to bed. Goodnight and God bless..................

No Smoking + No Caffeine = 2 Very Unhappy People

Vance is trying to quit smoking and I gave up sugar and caffeine. Needless to say, it's been very tense around my house. Vance is grumpy and snappy and I am very emotional and tend to have bad headaches. About the only words we speak to each other is "I love you" and then we head to different rooms to watch TV or do something else. Otherwise, he will jump down my throat if I ask him something simple like "You've seen this movie before?" I don't care what anybody says - trying to quit smoking is a very hard thing to do. And of course, when he yells at me, I go into another room and cry for an hour. Just can't help it. My emotions are right below the surface at all times. By the grace of God, we will get through this. I just pray for a quick work on Vance's behalf. He's having a rough time.

Yesterday, I cleaned house with a vengence. Forgot to eat all day. That's not good. I'm supposed to be eating something every two hours. I never even got hungry, so I didn't stop to eat. But, I got a lot accomplished.

Chad came to church today. Tabitha and the kids came first, then Chad walked in. I figured something was up because Tabitha sat on the back row. She always sits with me on the second row. I'm praying that he will get comfortable enough to start coming on a regular basis and maybe he can get his dad to come. Mrs. Sandi preached and it was good as always. She's a very good preacher. I guess Pastor Sammy was sick, because he didn't come.

I came home and ate and watched Columbo on TV. I used to watch him all the time when it was a regular weekly series. He always gets the crook. After that, I laid down on the couch and took my two hour nap. My cousin, Cindy, called after I woke up and wanted to know if I had the pictures from the walk-thru. I told her I had made Aunt Rose a CD and also a copy of the pictures. She said she would come over and get them. She came over and we chatted for a few minutes, then she headed back to give them to Aunt Rose.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading a book on photography. I like to re-read the how-to books to see if I can improve on my photography. You are never too old to learn something new.
And, I have probably forgotten a lot of what I have learned over the years. Especially techiques that I don't use on a regular basis.

Time to watch a DVD on Artistic Ideas about scrapbooking. I've got thousands of pictures I need to organize and scrapbook.

Goodnight and God bless...................

To Grandma's House We Go....

Was very busy today. Worked in eSTARS all day. Almost, yes, I said almost, got a full day's timesheets entered. If I hadn't had to get off at 2:30 to take my Dad to Grandmama's house to meet up with the lawyers and two aunts to do a walk-thru, I think I would have gotten a day's time in. Maybe tomorrow. No, tomorrow I have to go to the doctor. But, if I don't go to lunch, I just might be able to do it. We'll see.

Took Kim to Cassandra's Place for lunch. I had been craving good home cooking and they sure know how to do it. I ate mostly veggies, but I did have two pieces of their fried cornbread. It's the best I've ever eaten. We swung by to check on the ospreys. Both parent birds were on the nest. I'm still going to have to get up high to take good pictures, or get me a better telephoto lens. Now, that sounds good to me. No, I'll have to wait on that.

Took Daddy to Grandmama's house. The lawyers asked me and my cousin, Randy, to wait outside. Then, they said we could come into the house and sit in the air conditioning, but we decided to stay outside. There was a nice breeze coming off the water and we sat out there and talked. It was good talking to him. He kinda reminds me of my brother, Chip. They are a lot alike in some ways.

After taking Daddy to the VFW, I brought home Rose's camera and downloaded the pictures she took at the house so I could put them on a CD for her. I then asked Vance if I could go to church to hear my friend, Debbie, speak. Her sister had called me Tuesday night to invite me and I wasn't home. Hazel called me today and she and Marsha and I decided to go and surprise Debbie. I jumped in the shower, cause I had been sitting outside sweating, then I went by the beauty shop and picked up Marsha and then over to Hazel's to pick her up. Yes, we did surprise Debbie. She gave a real good talk and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards, Hazel, Marsha and I went to Waffle House and ate a hamburger and I took them home. I got home at 10:20.

Printed up copies of the pictures my aunt took of the contents of the house so she could give it to their attorney and made CD's for Rose.

Now, I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Goodnight and God bless...................

Wonderful Day

Woke up thinking it was Tuesday (since I was out Monday with a migraine), so I took my time getting ready for work. As I was heading out the door, I realized it was Wednesday and I was going to be late for the safety meeting. Just a few minutes, but late none the less. As usual, there was nothing they went over that pertained to my job or that I even understood what they were talking about. When they talk about line material, I don't relate. Found out they were having forklift training today. Nobody told me and they didn't sign me up for today's training. I'll have to go next Wednesday. I'm finally going to get certified again on the forklift. Will I ever use it? Probably not. But, that was a goal that has been on my performance evaluation for about four years. I'll finally meet one goal that I've set in my life. I usually sabotage all my goals and never realize them.

Worked on eSTARS all day. Yes, I had problems, but I'm getting a little faster at clicking that mouse between rows. I think I got a little more done today than I've been getting done. Still haven't done a complete days work, but I'm getting a little closer to that goal, too. I won't give up until I get it done.

Went to Cato's at lunch to check out their sales rack. Couldn't find anything but a brown and white striped pullover shirt. Most of the blouses and shirts are 100% cotton and have to be ironed. Not my idea of a good time. I don't like ironing and won't do it if I can get away with it. One of the guys at work shared with me a product he takes with him every time he travels. It's called Downy Wrinkle Releaser. You just spray it on your clothes and the wrinkles fall out. I use it all the time. It's absolutely fabulous! If you haven't tried it, you need to. You won't have to use your iron except on set-in wrinkles.

Finally got around to making a booklet of all the pictures I took at our last year's Ladies Chill Out at the beach. Once a year, a group of ladies from our church try to go to the beach and stay overnight. It's like a big slumber party. Where we stay is right on the beach and each room can sleeps nine people. I think we had five in our room last year. We all show up when we can on Friday. Some go for the whole day, but most of us go after work. We sit around and talk, then go someplace to eat (Waffle House last year-great food), then we all get together in one room in our pj's and share a little about ourselves, share scriptures and just get to know one another. It's so much fun. We laugh and cry together. On Saturday, we get up and head for the beach to walk, swim or just lay out. Me, I'm not putting on a bathing suit. Not until I get this weight off. Of course, I take my camera and take bunches of pictures. To get back to the booklet, I made it for Sarah, our Ladies Ministry President. Gave it to her tonight at church. She loved it. Once she saw it, she talked to Pastor and they are commissioning me to make calendars at the end of this year to sell. It will be full of pictures I've taken at different events we've had at the church. I will also put in all the members' birthdays that we have on file, so everybody who buys a calendar will know when a birthday is rolling around. I think they are trying to get me to go into business with my pictures. If somebody will manage the money and how much to charge, I'll be more than happy to take the pictures and make all the calendars and whatever else we come up with. I've always wanted to do things with my photos. Maybe there is somebody in church who can market my products or show me how to do it. I usually give everything away; I need to know how to make money with my God-given talent. I've done notecards, but I ended up giving most of them away, too. Sold a few, but now very many. Fran even took some to Holly Fair. Didn't sell any, but some were stolen. At least the thief had good taste.....

Kim ended up going home with a bad migraine. My boss called to tell me she was gone and asked if migraines were contagious. I told him I didn't think so. He said he didn't want to be around us if they were. What's contagious is the stress we've all been under. That's probably what caused both our headaches.

Had a good church service tonight. Several people who used to go to our church came back tonight. God's bringing back the ones who are supposed to be a part of our ministry who left and have never been satisfied at other churches. That's because God plants you in a church and if you leave before He releases you to go, you will never be satisfied at another church. Take it from someone who knows from experience. A lot of people allow themselves to get "offended" and they leave in a huff. But they are never happy at the next church and the next and the next. They tend to jump church over any little thing that strikes them wrong. They will never be happy until they get back to the original place and get back in fellowship where they belong. I've seen it so many times. We all need to just grow up!

Chad dropped Tabitha and Hope off at church and I got to take them home. I love to do that. Missed my little Trent. He was at Brandon's church. When I dropped them off, Hope was going in to help Tabitha make supper. Such a little girl!

Got a brochure in the mail from LA Weight Loss that says I can join for $99 since I'm a past member. I loved going there and losing the weight, but I don't know if I have the time to go get weighed three times a week. I think I will try the dietitian at my doctor's office first. I have a class to go to next Tuesday night. I'll see how that works. I've already got off to a good start by giving up caffeine and sugar. I noticed my watch wasn't tight on my arm today. Guess I'm losing a little of the puffiness.

Well, I'm sitting here yawning, so I guess I better get in bed. Goodnight and God bless............

Busy, Busy Day!

Yep, I made it to work today. So glad the migraine is over. Kim and I visited for awhile - not over coffee, cause I don't drink it anymore. I kinda, but then again I don't, miss having a cup every morning. The way I drink coffee was so doctored up, it probably had 500 calories in the cup. I can afford not to consume those empty calories. Still haven't drank any tea. Now, that, I do miss. But, I'm saving a lot of money not stopping at Sonic everyday. Mama called to make sure I was alright. She worries about me.

Decided to work in eSTARS today and see how many timesheets I could get entered. Still haven't been able to enter a full day. Found a few new problems when I went to run some reports. I sure hope they get everything worked out before we go fulltime with this program. I was telling Walter that this program is like one we used in the early days of computers. Very slow and not user friendly. It seems the computer programmers are doing what happens in the fashion industry - bringing back the same type programs we had 20 years ago. You would think they would be even faster with all the modern technology, but all the new ones they have installed lately are much slower than what we had. The company is constantly talking about cutting the fat (getting rid of people), but they give us computer programs that slow us down and we need to hire more people to do the work that one person could do before we got these new programs. Does that make sense to anyone?

Went to the marina at lunch to see if I could photograph the osprey nest. To really get some good pictures, I'm going to have to be higher off the ground. You can just barely see the osprey. Wish I could use one of our bucket trucks, but I don't know what account number I could charge that time to. Maybe a conservation account? Nah, I better just leave well enough alone. Ended up going to a sub shop I've never gone to before - Larry's Giant Subs. I got an 8" meatball sub. I have to say, it's better than Subway. I may have to go back there and try some of their salads. They looked pretty good.

Fran had been to Market in Atlanta over the weekend. She goes and starts buying stuff to sell at Holly Fair in November or December. I bought a purse from her that's kinda like Vera Bradley, but it's patchwork. I love it! I think it's called a Chanel Purse, or maybe Chenille. She had planned on buying some Vera Bradley to sell at Holly Fair, but you have to make a $10,000 purchase to get her stuff. Fran wasn't going to spend that much. Course if she did, I'd be able to get everything at cost. That would have been nice. She has the cutest purses for football fans. They are made out of actual footballs with the team logos on them (FSU, Gators, Alabama, etc.). Cute! But, I don't care anything for football, so that didn't interest me. It might interest some of you out there. If so, let me know and I might can get you one.

By about 2:00, I had a splitting tension headache from working on eSTARS. It makes me so tense. That's when I got up and walked over to see the stuff Fran brought to work from Market. I'm going to have to find out when she's going again and see if I can't go with her. That would be a fun get-a-way.

After work, I had to go buy some groceries for Daddy. Sat and visited with him about an hour, then remembered it was Tuesday, not Monday, and I had to be at church at 6:30. I rushed home to put the fruit I had bought in the refrigerator, kiss Vance and took off for church. I was about 15 minutes late, but we had a work night so it was okay. We cleaned the platform, moved things around, cleaned up some files. Very productive evening.

Came home and Vance had supper cooked (as he does most nights). I had bought some Lipton White Tea, Raspberry flavored. Drank a bottle. It's really good, but I looked on the back and it has 130 calories and 34g of carbs. I'm only supposed to have 20g of carbs a day. Bummer! I thought I had found something I could drink besides water. Nope, guess not. But, I won't let them go to waste. I'll take them to work and see if Kim or somebody else would like to have them.

Time for bed. I've actually been sleeping better since I started taking Vemma again. It had been many, many weeks since I took it. Just couldn't remember to take it. I'm so bad about taking something every day. Good thing I don't have some life threatening illness; I'd be in trouble. But, I decided since Vance and I were trying to get healthy again that we needed to start taking Vemma again on a daily basis. I gave him a 30 supply of the 2 oz. bottles and I have the big bottles in the refrigerator at work, plus we have some at home. I started taking it Friday and Vance started taking it again today. This time, I'm going to stick with it. It brought Olga and Ron's cholesterol down and also they were able to cut their thyroid medication in half. They have been religiously taking it since last June. In less than three months, they were able to come off their cholesterol medication. I'm looking for it to keep my sugar under control and bring Vance's cholesterol down. I know I feel better when I'm taking it.

Goodnight and God bless.................

Migraine Monday

Woke up with a horrible migraine. Nausea, terrible pain; all the symptoms. Managed to call the office and leave messages with my boss and with Kim that I would not be there. Found one of my migraine containers and it had one Maxalt-MLT in it. Thank You, Lord! It melts on your tongue so you don't even need water. I took it and went into the bedroom and curled up on the bed and went back to sleep. Slept until about 9:00 when Mama called and woke me up. She couldn't get me or Kim at work, so she was trying to find me. She told me to go to the doctor; then told me not to drive. I told her I didn't need a doctor; that it was just a migraine. There was no way I was going to try to drive anyway. I just went back to bed after she called and slept about 45 minutes. Got up and the headache was better. It was still there, but not as bad. And I was hungry, so I fixed some scrambled eggs. Laid around on the couch the rest of the day until Vance came home.

I have completely quit drinking tea. Haven't had any since the day after I went to the doctor last week. That is probably why I had such a horrific headache today - still going through withdrawals from caffeine and sugar. But, I can do this. Vance and I are really trying to get our health back to normal. And, we will!

Yesterday, before my nap, I took pictures through the glass front door of our birdfeeder. These are some of the shots I got. Hope you enjoy them. We love watching them.

Now, it's time for me to go to bed and get my beauty sleep. Goodnight and God bless................

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Just woke up from my nap. I have to get a nap on Sunday to be able to function the rest of the week. This has been a lazy weekend for me. I guess I needed the rest, cause I sure haven't done anything. Yesterday, I just lazed around - I did sweep the floors and do some laundry, but that was all. I just felt like I needed to rest.

Had a good service at church this morning. Missed Trent. He had spent the night with his friend, Brandon, and went to church with him this morning. Debb came to church. It was so good seeing her in church again. She's been doing so good since she got her own apartment. I'm so glad for her.

Olga called me last night and told me about an osprey nest that I needed to take pictures of. Maybe I can do that tomorrow at lunch. It's downtown on the marina, so I could just ride down there, take some pictures and then swing by McDonalds and pick up a salad. It shouldn't take long at all. I thought about doing it after church, but I was hungry. I had forgotten to eat anything this morning, so I wanted to get home and fix something to eat. Vance had bought some sweet potatoes and I was craving one, so that's what I ate. It was really good! Can't have white potatoes anymore, but I can have sweet pototoes. I love them almost as much as white ones.

Took my nap and I'm in my computer room trying to clean it up some. Throwing away a lot of paper that I don't need. Old bills, etc. Cleaning out files. Vance is in the kitchen cooking turkey bacon. He said he would try it since he can no longer have pork. The man could live off of bacon and sausage. Now, it's going to have to be turkey bacon and sausage. I love deer sausage, but he's not too crazy about that. I'm going to try buffalo. I heard it's very lean and it tastes really good. Publix carries it, so I'll have to stop by on my way home one afternoon and get some. We are both going to try to eat better. Of course, he doesn't need to lose any weight (he actually needs to gain some), but I need to lose a lot of weight. He's trying to quit smoking again, so pray for him.It's really a hard thing to do. I've seen him struggle before and finally just give up and go back to smoking. I'm believing that this will be the last time he'll have to deal with this.

That bacon is calling my name. Gotta run............

37 Years

Today is my 37th anniversary at GPC. It's hard to believe I've been working that long. And for the same company. Actually, it's the only place I've ever worked. My parents wouldn't let me work when I was in school, or out for the summer. Way back then, the only place to work would have been on the beach and they weren't about to allow that. I graduated in June and started working on July 13th - my grandmother's birthday. She could always remember my anniversary date; maybe not how many years, but she knew the day I started working.

I was secretary (stenographer back then) to the Division Manager. I had to take dictation in shorthand and type it without mistakes. We didn't have computers that corrected the mistakes. My first typewriter was an old upright Royal. When I typed, it sounded like machine gun fire. You could hear me type all over the building. I could type 100 words a minute. I've lost that speed now. I was just 18 years old, didn't have a car, so I had to ride to work with one of my friends who worked at the gas company. I worked at the electric company and she worked at the gas company. I made $211.00 a month. I remember going out with an Air Force private and he only made $150.00 a month. I felt so bad letting him pay for our food. You could get an All American Meal for less than a dollar - hamburger, fries and milk shake. When he asked me where I wanted to go, I said "McDonald's". So, we went to McDonald's and hung out with some friends. The few times I went out with him, I never let him carry me anywhere but McDonalds.

I was saving my money to buy a 1970 Plymouth Duster. I got paid every two weeks and I would give Mama $20, Diane $10 for gas, keep $10 for food and put the rest in the bank. Never did get my Duster. I got a husband and a 1964 Corvette convertible instead. I think I got a pretty good deal. I've still got the husband and wish we still had the Corvette. We traded it for a Ford pickup truck when I was pregnant with Chad.

Had a rough day at work. It was timesheet day and I was almost a full week behind because of trying to work in eSTARS. Had to stay at my desk and pound away on those keys to get the time in. We had a fund raiser at lunch - hamburgers, hot dogs, coleslaw, potato salad, brownie with ice cream and fudge syrup. I ran over and got a plate and ate at my desk while doing time. When it was time to lock and approve everything, I had five people that had problems. It was from the days that I put their time in eSTARS. That took about 20 minutes to resolve. By the time I finished for the day, I felt like I had been involved in a Triathlon. I was tired!

I came home and couldn't keep my eyes open. Vance went outside to work in the yard and I crashed on the couch. I was exhausted. Sometimes I think working with your brain is more exhausting than physical labor. Or, maybe it's just my brain. Anyway, I wasn't moving from that couch until I had taken a nap. It was a short nap, but it helped energize me. For a little while anyway.

Now, I'm real tired and I'm going to bed. Goodnight and God bless.........................

Doing better today

I always turn the TV to TBN in the morning to watch Paula White while I'm getting ready for work and turn the volume up as high as it will go so I can hear while I'm in the bathroom. This morning, she had Dr. Joe Christiano talking about Blood Types and Body Types. I had heard years ago, that the type blood you have has a lot to do with your overall health and the type foods you are supposed to eat. A couple of years ago when I was having the Minere's attacks so frequently and went to the health food store to get help, the doctor there gave me a card with the types of food I was supposed to eat for my blood type. Of course, I didn't pay it any mind because I wasn't supposed to eat the kinds of foods that I love. Over the years, I've met several people who have started eating according to their blood types and they have lost weight and have been able to get off a lot of medications. So, after hearing Dr. Joe this morning, I decided to go get his book "Bloodtypes Bodytypes and You". After Paula went off, another program came on and the preacher was talking to a guy named Reubin. I can't remember his first name. I've got his book "The Maker's Diet" at work. He was dying of about 15 diseases and was wasting away to nothing when he started doing all natural cures and he is healthy as a horse now. Today, he was talking about diabetes. I didn't get to listen because I had to go to work. I'll have to look up that chapter in his book.

When I got to work, I told Kim about the blood type diets. She was interested, so I went at lunch and bought us both a book. I'm type 0 so I can have animal protein. She can't, but she can have seafood. I swung by Captain D's and got baked chicken, baked potato and steamed veggies. Looked through the book as I was eating and found out I'm not supposed to have white potatoes, but I can have sweet potatoes. I really already knew that, but figured the baked potato was better than corn, coleslaw or fries. I'm sure I won't be able to stick to the diet every day of the year, but I'm going to try my best. I am ready to get this weight off and get my health back!

It is still so stressful trying to work with eSTARS. I'm trying to input as much as I can between now and Aug. 1 when we have the official training. I think I'm the only crew timekeeper in the company who is working on eSTARS. That puts a load on me to try to find all the problems before our training sessions. I'm trying to come up with all types of scenarios to see how it's handled in eSTARS. I've found some problems, a lot of problems. I just pray they can work them out before they deactivate STARS.

Oh, yes, I found my cell phone. Vance had tried calling it last night when I got home and we couldn't hear it. It was still set to Silent from when I was at practice Tuesday night. I looked everywhere and finally went to put some clothes in the hamper and found it in a pair of shorts I had worn when I got home from church Tuesday night. I had been expecting Penny to call me back. I couldn't have heard her if she did, but I didn't know that. There were 8 missed calls.

Mama called and asked me to pick up her prescriptions and get a few groceries whenever I got off work. I did and sat and talked to her until 7:00. I kept expecting Fran to call and let me know if they were going out to eat tonight with our friends, Gail and Cindi, who are here from Georgia. She took off with them today to go to the beach. I can't take any vacation cause I'm fast running out and I've got a bunch more doctor's appointments to take my parents to before the end of the year. Of course, my aunt helps with Mama, so that is such a blessing. Fran never called, so I don't guess they decided to go out tonight.

Vance and I are going to try to eat better and take care of ourselves. His cholesterol is high, plus he has problems with his legs. He's got to stop smoking and the doctor gave him a prescription for something to help him. He started eating fruit today and we had a salad for supper. He and I have the same blood type, so we will be able to eat the same things. Of course, he doesn't need to lose weight; he actually needs to gain some. He weighs less now than he did in high school. No fair!!!

Well, I guess I need to go to bed. Goodnight and God bless......................

No more sugar

Went to another doctor's appointment today (had one yesterday, too). My blood sugar is up close to the limit where I will become a diabetic if I don't do something. So, you know what that means - NO MORE SUGAR! Or at least, only on special occasions. I've lost 8 lbs since April, so that's good. I would have been happier if it had been 8 lbs. per month since April, but that's not realistic for me. I would have lost more if I was eating more food. The doctor (who also happens to be a dietician) got on to me for not eating enough food. I am supposed to eat something every 2 hours. That is so hard. Today, I didn't put anything in my mouth until 11:30. I just wasn't hungry. No more grits. Do you know how us Southern Girls love our grits? That's gonna be hard. I love having a bowl of grits for breakfast. And it's so easy. Now, I guess I'll have oatmeal (is that allowed? I guess I'll have to look at my diet and see.). I'm also supposed to start exercising every day. Yeah, when am I going to do that - midnight? Then, I wouldn't be able to sleep. It was 9:45 when I got home tonight. I can't exercise that late. Life just isn't getting any easier the older I get. Nope, it's getting harder and harder every day.

But, I have a good attitude. I can laugh at the stupid things I do. Like, I left the safety meeting today at 7:45 to go to the doctor. I didn't even look at the hour hand on the clock, just the minute hand. Why I thought I was supposed to leave, I just don't know. I got in my car and got half way to the doctor's office when I noticed the digital clock on my dash. It said 7:56. That's when it hit me - my appointment wasn't until 9:15! I turned around and went back to work for another hour. Stressed, nah, whatever gave you that idea!!!

Another thing I did today - lost my cell phone. Couldn't find it before I left for work. Then, I worried all day about where it could have been. Saw huge storm clouds over my side of town and worried that it had fallen out of my pocket and was getting rained on. I knew everybody and their brother would be calling me today. I even called the doctor's office to make an appointment for my husband and gave them my cell phone to call me back. Duh! Forgot I didn't have it with me. Good thing I gave them my home phone number, too. There was a message from them waiting on the answering machine when I got home. I had missed 8 calls on my cell phone. I know Tabitha must have wondered why I didn't call her back before she went to work. I know she was calling to remind me to pick up the kids for church tonight. She had to work.

I did remember to pick up the kids, but forgot Penny had called and asked me to pick up Swayde. Thank goodness she called before I left work and told me she had managed to get off and pick him up. I would have left the poor kid at daycare. Stressed - who me?

Now, I've lost my pocket calendar. I can't live without that thing. I have everybody's doctor's appointments listed in there. I don't have them written down anywhere else! Now, I've got to call all the doctors and see when the appointments are. Stressed? Stressed? Spelled backwards it spells desserts - that's my whole problem; I'm not eating sugar anymore. It's affecting my memory. Ohhhhhh, I need sugar!!!!!!!!

What I really need is to go to bed. I'm really getting tired. Goodnight and God bless...........

Happy Birthday, Vance!

Today is my son's (Vance) birthday. I've been remembering all day about that day 33 years ago when I gave birth to him - our firstborn. I was so excited about having a baby. We had waited three years after we got married to start trying to have a baby. A couple of years before, my friend Evelyn and I had bought these little ceramic storks and we planned to give them to our husbands whenever we found out we were pregnant.

Vance and I were about to celebrate our third anniversary when I found out and I put the stork on his pillow. He's pretty smart and he figured it out.

I had a very easy pregnancy. At the time, my employer made the women go on maternity leave at the beginning of their 6th month. (That was without pay and you had to pay your own insurance or lose it.) We struggled financially, but God always provided for us. We never went without anything.

Vance decided to start his two weeks' vacation on my due date. I tried to tell him that first babies could be late, but he wouldn't listen. He and my mother would talk on the phone and Mama would tell him to take me for a ride over a bumpy road, to take me out walking or give me Castor Oil. I flat out refused to take the Castor Oil. I was fine with riding on bumpy roads or going for long walks after midnight, but no way was I taking that nasty stuff.

I remembered the day I went into labor. Vance was working on his Corvette; repairing a crack in the fiberglass. I had layed down on the couch to take a nap. When I woke up, my water broke. Vance walked into the house and said he'd be back in a few minutes. He was going to get some more fiberglass compound. I told him he needed to go take a shower, because we were going to have to go to the hospital. He got all excited and said "Are you sure? You want me to take a shower? Do we have time?" I assured him we had plenty of time because my contractions hadn't started yet.

While he was in the shower, a co-worker called to check on me. When I told her that my water broke, she shouted so loud that the whole office heard her. She yelled "You're in labor?! Why aren't you on your way to the hospital?" I told her Vance was taking a shower and she about lost it. She thought that was the craziest thing she had ever heard. She offered to come get me herself. I just laughed at her and told her I'd be okay and that Vance would call as soon as the baby came. Of course, his shower was probably the fastest one he'd ever taken.

Two weeks before, I had a dream that the train was going to stop us from getting to the hospital. Well, that was exactly what happened. We were at the red light and the train started coming. The lights started blinking and the train slowly passed by. Then, it stopped. Not only did it stop, but the engine unhooked and took off down the tracks leaving the full train blocking our way to the hospital. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing because Vance about freaked out. He just knew that he would be delivering our baby in the front seat of our 1964 Corvette (did I say front seat? Corvettes only have front seats!) He managed to cut through a gas station and we had to go 3 or 4 miles out of the way to get back around to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital, they wheeled me into a labor room. Vance called Mama and she came. Several people visited us in the five hours it took to deliver. I never would go into contractions, so they had to induce. I would be talking to people, have a contraction, hold my breath for a second and then continue the conversation. I am not one to make a scene of any kind. I had heard of women cussing their husbands out for getting them pregnant or screaming at the top of their lungs and I vowed I would never say a word. In 1974, they didn't want you to have your baby natural, so they insisted on giving me a saddle block and a drug. I think it was called scopalomine? It basically wipes out all memory of the birth. Believe me, it works, cause I don't remember anything. Last thing I remember was having a really hard contraction and holding the nurse's hand and squeezing it so hard I cut her with my fingernail. I had to ask Vance where the delivery room was cause I don't remember anything about it.

I woke up with Vance and Mama standing over me telling me it was a boy. The doctor and nurse had been telling me all along that I was going to have a girl. They didn't have sonograms back then, so they judged by the heartbeat. I had been telling them all along that I was going to have a boy. I just knew he was a boy from the time I found out I was pregnant.

Because there were so many babies born that week, my bed was out in the hall in front of the nurses' station. I got to see all the babies being taken to their mothers. The mothers were scattered throughout the hospital. I heard there were even some in the mental ward. Glad that wasn't me!

Because of the drugs they gave me, Vance wouldn't wake up. I couldn't nurse him, because I couldn't get him to wake up. The nurses swore to me that he would wake up in the nursery. The first time I saw his eyes was as we were leaving the hospital. He was 36 hours old. I got him home and nursed him for the first time. He was such a good baby, always smiling. He woke up with a smile. And he slept all night long from the time we brought him home. Again, that was because of the drugs. I would wake up and check on him because he would sleep as much as 13 hours at a time. But, he got over that and became a normal sleeper. But, he never was one to wake up but once in the middle of the night to be fed. I didn't believe in the "every 4 hour feeding rule". I knew he would let me know when he was hungry. And he did. He never went without. As a matter of fact, my milk was so rich, gained weight real fast at first. The doctor thought I was nursing him around the clock. I told him that Vance sometimes went 6 hours between feedings. He said to keep up the good work, cause he was definitely thriving. That made me feel pretty good as a brand-new mother. You always worry that you're doing something wrong.

Vance has grown into a very wonderful young man that we are so proud of. And he's an awesome daddy himself. So, Happy Birthday, Vance. We love you very much. We are so blessed that God graciously allowed us to be your parents. Have a wonderful life! I know in just a few more months, you will be reliving the birth of your firstborn. It's a day never to forget because it's a gift from God. You are a gift from God. Never forget that!

Time for me to go to bed. Goodnight and God bless.....................

Missed blogging yesterday. Just couldn't stay up and get it done. Went to church and we had another great service. Stopped by Popeye's and got their special. Didn't realize how much food it was - two pieces of chicken, a lot of popcorn shrimp, coleslaw and a biscuit. Needless to say, the dogs got over half of it. I just couldn't eat it all. Immediately layed down on the couch and took a nap. I usually only take a 2 hour nap, but yesterday was a four hour nap. Don't know why I was so tired. Then, I went to bed around 10:00. That's very unusual for me, too.

Didn't want to go to work today, but I had to. Decided I was going to start eating oatmeal for breakfast instead of grits, since oatmeal is supposed to be so much better for you. Well, I can't just eat plain oatmeal, so I bought brown sugar/cinnamon. I used to love it, but I couldn't eat it today. It was way too sweet! I'm going to stick with my grits.

I was pretty busy all day. Decided not to work in eSTARS today cause I had gotten so far behind last week. Remember me saying I hadn't gotten a whole days' worth of timesheets typed into eSTARS. Well, I got four days worth of timesheets input into STARS today. That shows how much faster the old system is than the new and improved (?) system.

At lunch, I ran down the street to Arby's and picked up lunch for me and Kim. Was back in 15 minutes. Ate while I worked so that I could use the 45 minutes lunch time as part of the time I had to take Daddy to the doctor. Left work at 1:15 and took Daddy to the doctor where Penny and now Tiffaney work. Saw both of them. It had been about 18 months since Daddy had seen Tiffaney. We thought Daddy would be finished in time for me to go back and work some this afternoon. That didn't happen. It took forever at the doctor's office. They had to do a urine sample and bloodwork, then wait for the results before we could go home. I dropped Daddy off at 4:15 - too late for me to go back to work.

Came home and washed some clothes and went to a Women's Meeting at church. The men were cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, but I didn't eat cause Vance was grilling pork chops when I left. I'll take pork chops over hamburgers and hot dogs any day. Got home around 9:00 and ate a wonderful tasting pork chop and some peas and corn. Topped it off with Rocky Road ice cream. Lately, I've been craving ice cream so when I went to the store yesterday, I got some. That's sure not going to help me lose weight. I hate to hear my doctor tomorrow when I go. She's not going to be pleased at my weight gain. Last time I saw her in 2004, I weighed 145 lbs. I'm no where close to that now. I'm sure I'll get a lecture.

Now, it's time to go to bed. I'm beginning to get a headache, so I guess I better hit the sack.
Goodnight and God bless..................

Sleepy Saturday

I wanted to sleep in today, but that never happens on the weekend. When I can sleep late, I always wake up early. I kissed Vance goodbye and got up and made pancakes. He was going early to the golf course, cause they make great sausage/gravy biscuits.

I turned on the TV in the dining room while I tried to straighten up in there. Was watching Clean House - The Messiest House. Boy, I just thought I had a messy house! The messiest room in my house does not compare to the house on that show. How the woman and her two daughters were able to even sleep was beyond me. Every inch of their house was covered with something. You couldn't even see their furniture for the stuff piled on top. I had always thought I was a messy person, but I've changed my mind. I'm not messy at all compared to these people. I'm actually pretty organized.

While I was watching the show, Tabitha called to see if I could watch Hope for a few hours then take her out to the beach to meet them. They didn't want her out there all day. I could understand that. Told her to bring Hope over. When she came over, she was wearing the cutest sunglasses that I had bought her last year. I was so surprised that she still had them. She was very clingy today. All she wanted me to do was hold her. We ended up with me sitting on the couch and her laying half on me and half on the pillow. Eventually, I ended up on one end of the couch and her on the other and we both fell asleep. Tabitha called at 11:15 to get me to take Hope to them, so I had to get up, throw on some makeup and put the carseat in the car. Woke Hope up just long enough to strap her in and off we went. She promptly fell asleep again until we arrived at Shipwreck. Called to let them know that I was parked right behind Chad's car. He met me in the parking lot and got the carseat. Tabitha and Trent walked out to greet us, too. They were having a great time. I left and hurried to Chick-Fil-A to get some tea. I was so thirsty.

Came home and started printing out the pictures I had taken at our church's Homecoming. Several of the young people have asked to see the pictures - especially the ones of them.

Vance was home when I got here. He left to go get a haircut and buy a VCR. When he came back, he told me to call Chad and ask him to come over because he couldn't figure out to hook up the VCR. I called, but they weren't home yet. Left a message and Chad came over a little later. He hooked the thing up, but they couldn't get it to record. Tried calling the 1-800 number, but didn't get an answer. Vance ended up going to bed before the race was over. He always records the races and watches them the next day, cause he usually goes to bed before the night races even get started good.

I went to Sonic and got a Butterfinger Sonic Blast and a 44oz sweet tea. Was craving ice cream and didn't want real food. Haven't had anything nourishing at all today. Pancakes and ice cream are not the kind of food I should be eating. Didn't even eat any lunch. How am I supposed to lose weight if I don't eat any more than I do, then eat nothing but sweets when I do get hungry? I'm going to have to do something!

Now, I've got to get those pictures in an album so I can share with the kids tomorrow. Goodnight and God bless...........................

Other Half of a Short Week

Had to stop and get some tea from Sonic before I went to work. Needed the caffeine to wake me up. Wish I could have slept in today and had a quiet day at home.

Decided to work in eSTARS again today. Kept having problems. I still have not been able to complete a whole day's worth of timesheets in one day. That's just not good. I've been able to figure out why some of the problems are happening and I'm sending emails to Atlanta to be forwarded to the programmers to see if they can change their program to be more user friendly. It just amazes me that new computer programs are slower than the old ones that were developed over 15 years ago. You would think they would be faster. We will just have to pray that they can change the program to meet our needs.

Deposited Daddy's check at the Credit Union. Talked to Fran for a long time.

There is a new discount store that opened up the beginning of this week in the old Albertson's building. It's called DD's Discount. It's owned by Ross Stores, so you can imagine what it's like. I decided to check it out at lunch. I ended up buying three photo albums for $4.99. (That's a good deal and I'm always looking for good photo albums.) I bought a cross that has LOVE spelled out on it to hang in my living room. They have beautiful pictures at good prices. Found a lot of them that I liked, but didn't buy any. I've been wanting a bird bath to put in the front yard for the birds I'm attracting with my bird feeder. I almost bought a cute little bowl being held up by three frog princes. Had it in my cart, but turned the corner and came across a pedestal with an open rose as the top. It's so cute. It's only about knee high, but it will do until I can get a real concrete one. Also bought a pair of Sketcher sneakers for $19.99. They are usually around $60.00. They have the back out, which I never thought I would wear; but they are really comfortable. I didn't get to look at everything, cause I had to get back to work.

Had some ARMS orders to input. Had problems with that program on the very last order of the day. Me and computers just aren't getting along very well today.

Kim and I ate watermelon with the guys around 2:30. Watermelons are good this year.

I came home and set up my little bird bath. It is so cute. A good strong wind can probably knock it over, but I'm hoping the birds will use it.

I better get to bed. I've got to get up early tomorrow and go have bloodwork done before I go to work.

Goodnight and God bless.......................

Happy 4th of July!

I can hear the fireworks being shot off over the bay while I type this. Vinnie and Shadow wanted to go outside a few minutes ago, so I let them out. Before I could get 10 steps away from the door, they were scratching to get back in. I couldn't understand why they were in such a hurry until I walked into the living room and heard the fireworks exploding. Now, they are both laying at my feet. Vinnie wanted under the desk, but I wouldn't let him. That's where my computer is plugged in and he's gone up under there and unplugged stuff from the back of my computer before.

I had the best day today. Went to Tallahassee to visit with Vance, Michelle and Fox. Poor Fox was having a bit of trouble with his new teeth coming in and he was fussy. That's just not like him. He's such a happy baby. But, when he wasn't fussy, he was so cute. He's crawling everywhere and pulling up on the furniture, wall, etc. He's very mobile. He would crawl away, then turn back to make sure I was looking at him. Then, he'd break into this big smile and take off again. Most of the time, he wanted his mama to hold him instead of Vance or me. When a baby isn't feeling well, they always want their mama. He's eating good with his two little teeth. He loves toast.

Michelle, Fox and I went to Target to pick up a few things. We found him some shorts for a little over a $1.00 a pair. I was hoping the cubes that I wanted were on sale, but nope. They cost $24.99 each. I'll wait for a sale. Michelle went through her closet and gave me some clothes to give to Tabitha, plus baby clothes to give back to Tonya.

Michelle cooked us a good supper and I left soon after. Lee and Gloria had called earlier and told me it was raining on Hwy 231. I wanted to get home before dark especially if I had to drive in the rain. It was beautiful in Tallahassee. It never did rain on me going home. Had a great drive. For a holiday, there really wasn't much traffic on the roads. I was surprised. But the Highway Patrol were everywhere. And everytime I saw one, he had somebody pulled over - probably for speeding. I was very careful. I used the cruise control and never drove over 2 mph above the speed limit. I sure didn't want a ticket.

Vance and the dogs were happy to see me when I got home. It's nice being missed.

Michelle invited me to come anytime I wanted to get away. I may take her up on that more often than I have in the past. Sometimes it just does you good to go someplace different. And I love visiting with them. I loved Michelle from the very first time I laid eyes on her. She's been a good wife for Vance and a wonderful mother to Fox. God gave my boys such precious wives and both Michelle and Tabitha are super mothers. Prayer works. I prayed for my boys' wives before they were even old enough to think about the opposite sex. You need to start praying when your child is born for God to bring them the perfect mate.

It's been a wonderful day, but it seems like I'm winding down now. I guess I better get ready for bed. The holiday is almost over and it's back to work tomorrow.

Goodnight and God bless....................

It's a Girl!

Got an email from my niece this morning at work. She's pregnant and she found out it's going to be a girl. We're so excited. She has the cutest little boy and I know this little girl will be beautiful. We'll have another new baby in the family. Little ones are so much fun at Christmas. We've gone several years without any little ones running around getting into things.

Speaking of little ones - Michelle invited us to come to Tallahassee tomorrow and spend the day with them. Can't wait to see Fox. As usual, Vance doesn't want to leave the house. He has become such a homebody. The only place he goes is to play golf on Saturday and to work. We don't even go out to eat anymore. If we ever retire, he will probably never leave the house. At first, I was just going to stay at home with him, but I miss my kids. Fox won't even know who we are if we don't get over there to see him more often. I'm not going to tell Mama I'm going cause she will worry about her car making the trip and the mileage I'm putting on it. Daddy said that car could go to California and back with no problems. I'm not worried about it. Vance checked the tires and he's done a lot of work on it since we've gotten it, so it will be fine. I'll leave early in the morning and try to get back before dark.

I went to Taco Bell and got a taco salad and decided to drive by Kim's to see what she had done to her house. She was there eating lunch, so I stopped. Went in and saw the closet she had built in her room. The guy did a great job. Took my salad in and ate while she shared some scriptures with me that she has been studying. We need to do that more often. I really enjoyed talking about the Lord while I ate. Of course, she and I talk about Him and His goodness all the time at work. Praise God, we work in an office that doesn't mind us talking about the Lord. We share with everybody what He has done in our lives. And nobody has ever gotten offended. Most of them will come back with prayer requests or ask us more questions.

Penny called me last night to see if I knew Aunt Rose's cell phone number. She had a message on her phone and thought it sounded like Rose. I didn't have the number. Well, she called me tonight and said she found out who had called her. It was one of the girls that she works with. She went to work this morning and looked up the number in the White Pages on the computer, then asked the girl if she called around 9:00. She said no, that she went to bed early. Penny said, "Well, you called me at 9:00. Let me guess. You took an Ambien before going to bed." The girl said yes she did. Penny played back the message and the girl was shocked to hear her own voice. She said she knew something wasn't right when she found the phone in bed with her this morning. She had to get up out of bed, go into the living room, look up Penny's number and then go back to bed and call her. We have heard so many stories like that from people taking Ambien. Penny took it for a while until she found out that Tiffaney would talk to her and she would carry on a conversation, but not remember a thing about it the next day. Other people have noticed they are gaining weight and find out from another member of the family that they are getting up in the middle of the night and cooking and eating. Some have even driven to the store to buy food and don't remember it. They could get into an accident. That is one sleeping pill they should take off the market before people start dying from doing something stupid while asleep. I refuse to take sleeping pills. I've taken one in my life. I took it at 8:00 and didn't fall asleep until 3:00, then when the alarm woke me up at 6:00, I felt like I had been drugged. I couldn't walk a straight line and I was slurring my words when I called my boss and told him I was in no shape to drive. I fell back asleep and didn't wake up until 2:00 that afternoon. Still felt groggy. I took those pills (Tylenol PM) to work and gave them to the guy in my office who said they were so good. I laid them on his desk and told him he could have them. If I never sleep another wink, I won't take sleeping pills. I won't take anything that makes me feel out of control. That's why I won't drink alcohol. I like being in control of my senses (what little bit I have). :O)

I worked on ARMS today. That's always a nice diversion from the norm. Also worked in eSTARS. That's another story altogether. It takes so much longer to enter time. In three hours, I only got five timesheets entered. That is just not acceptable, not when I have to enter over 50 people a day. I sure hope they can fix the problems.

I went by Penny's and picked up her computer to take to Vance to look at. She hasn't been able to use it in months. I called and let them know I'd be bringing it and told Michelle to tell Vance to take his time. That way, it will give us an excuse to drive over one Saturday to pick it up. I tried to talk Penny into going with me tomorrow, but she told Angie she would probably go to the lake.

It's after 11:00 and I want to get an early start tomorrow, so I guess I better go to bed.

Goodnight and God bless........................

Beginning of a Short Week

I did not sleep much at all last night. Played solitaire on the computer until 2:00 trying to get sleepy. Went to bed and tossed and turned until 3:00 when it started lightning real bad. Got up and unplugged my computer and moved to the couch. I think I finally got to sleep around 4:00. Vance woke me up at 6:15 and I fell back asleep and slept till 6:45. Had to rush like crazy to get ready to go to work. Was only 5 minutes late.

Boy, did I need a cup of coffee! I felt bad cause Kim had a test this morning and couldn't have any coffee or food.

I decided to do my timesheet corrections in eSTARS today to see how that system was working out. Found a few glitches. Will send Payroll an email tomorrow when I finish entering the adjustments. As you can see, it takes a lot longer than regular STARS. Mama called to see if I would get her some groceries when I got off work. No problem. Went to McDonald's at lunch and rushed back to my office. Ate while working.

Had the appointment with the ENT. Yep, the bone spur is still there. As if I didn't already know that. Surgery is set for August 16th. He said recovery time should only be a couple of days. The 16th is on a Thursday, so I'll be off that Friday and should be able to go back to work the following Monday. I'll be glad to get it over with. Could have gotten it done next week, but I have timesheets that Friday. I wouldn't dump that on Kim for anything if I can help it. She has way too much to do as it is.

It rained this afternoon, but was only sprinkling when I got off work. Got Mama's groceries and visited with her about an hour. Came home and collapsed on the couch. Didn't fall asleep but I was exhausted. My face hurts and I've got a headache. Yep, I'm ready to get this bone spur out!

It's almost 11:00 and I'm beginning to get sleepy, so I guess I better close for now.

Goodnight and God bless......................

Weekend's Almost Over - Again!

What's with time? It seems to just fly by. I can't believe it's July already. It seems like just yesterday, I was renting a car and driving to Tallahassee for Fox's birth. Was that really 8 1/2 months ago? He will be a year old before we know it. Vance and Michelle, treasure this time you have with him. He'll be grown and gone before you know it.

Yesterday, I got some much needed rest. Vance left to go play golf and I went back to sleep. Slept till almost 10:00. Then, I got up and started putting together a cube that I had bought months ago from Target. I'm sure you've seen them, especially if you are a crafter. You can buy a whole system at Target. The one I bought has a glass door. I put it on the end of my desk. Eventually, I will try to buy other pieces and hopefully get the whole system to organize my craft supplies. I would love to have some order to my life. I've never had it before.

I spent the rest of the day trying to clean up my computer room. It is a total mess. Threw away a lot of junk. It's looking a little better, but I've got some things that I want to do in there that will take a little time to get it done. I'm slow when it comes to doing things. I'm easily distracted. I start working in one room then go into another room and find something to do in there. Before you know it, I've torn apart my whole house.

Vance wanted a salad for supper, so I went to Wendy's and got us salads. They have great salads. I got the Mandarin Chicken for me and BLT for him. I also tried one of their Vanilla Frosty Floats. It was pretty much like the Sonic Root Beer Float only a dollar more. For someone who hasn't drank carbonated beverages in over 10 years it was pretty good. But, I can't drink them anymore. I paid for it last night. Hurts my stomach really, really bad. And people drink them all day long. Thanks, but I'll stick to my sweet tea. I know it's not that good for me either, but it's a lot better than carbonation.

Went to church this morning. Tabitha and the kids didn't come. I think she went to visit her mom. I didn't call to see if that's where they were. I got distracted when I got home and fell asleep. Slept for three hours, then just forgot to call. I totally relaxed today. Didn't let my mind dwell on anything. It felt good not to worry about everything and everybody. That will start all over again tomorrow.

Church was really good today. We had so many new visitors. The church is filling up. It's getting time to build a new sanctuary or expand ours. I think we are going to add on to ours and build a fellowship hall. We're getting a building committee together to start making plans.

Karen gave me a bag full of shoes after church. I brought them home and I can wear most of them. She has good taste in shoes and clothes.

Well, say a little prayer for me. I go see my ENT tomorrow to see about that bone spur in my sinuses. Not looking forward to surgery, but I am looking forward to this pain being gone. I'm tired of my face being swollen on the left side all the time. Will keep you posted on the outcome.

Time to head off to bed. Got work in the morning. It will be nice having a break in the middle of the week.

Goodnight and God Bless.......................