Welding mask or sun visor?

Here in my neck of the woods it would appear a memo has gone out to a certain ethnic group, which will remain nameless, that wearing regular size sunglasses are so yesterday. Here in Northern California many folks have kicked it up a notch. Today, a sun visor that resembles a welding helmet is the preferred method of keeping sun off your face. These over sized sun visors are all the rage here in Silicon Valley. In case you haven't seen one I've included a couple here for you.

You can sport your favorite country.


Sexy

Don't you want one? Admit it. You know you do.

Saw something shiny

My youngest child, Shawna, is 6.5 years old. My oldest child, Paula, is 8 years old. Paula is very organized and methodical. Her room is usually tidy and she can usually find her things even if under clutter. She does get distracted but not like her younger sibling. When you tell Paula to do something she will complete the said act in a reasonable amount of time. When you tell Shawna to do something, more than likely it won't get done. Shawna starts out with the intention to do said act, but she easily gets distracted. We joke that she'll see something shiny that takes her attention away.

This morning, for example, I helped her get dressed (because if I don't it doesn't happen) and walked her into the bathroom where all she had to do is brush her teeth. I go back into my room to fix my hair that is not cooperating at all. 5 minutes later she still hasn't brushed her teeth. I remind her again to hurry up and brush her teeth. I go downstairs to pop their breakfast of a chocolate chip waffle into the toaster oven, because I'm very Martha Stewart that way, and 5 more minutes go by. Still no Shawna.

Shawna! Hurry up!

She has a small mouth people. She hasn't lost 1 single baby tooth. What is she doing up there?!

Finally she comes down. Now we have to get her shoes on. Where are her shoes? They're not in the shoe room next to the kitchen like they're supposed to be. They're upstairs. Gah! So she runs upstairs to get them. 2 minutes pass.

Shawna! Hurry up!

She brings down the shoes but now we're so late she has to put them on in the car. This is a typical morning in my house. If you do not shuffle behind Shawna ensuring that each task gets accomplished, minutes turn into hours and the act does not get completed.


Do you have a child like this??

It's been awhile since I shared pictures.

Paula on 4th of July for the bike parade. She came in 1st place for her age group.

This is Shawna. She too came in 1st place for her age group. Their dad does a fine job of decorating!

Save a Broken Heart

In my mid 20's I lived with a gal named Michelle for a few years. Michelle is a kick. She and I laughed non-stop when we first met. My mom and I picked her up to go the airport where we headed for Richmond VA for my friends wedding. I was BF with the bride and she was BF with the brides brother. We worked down the street from each other and lived not too far from each other growing up, but it took my friend Jenny to bring us together.

Today Michelle posted something on her Facebook that I feel I need to put out to our wonderful blogspere. Michelle's dear friend and co-worker, whose name is Elizabeth, is the mother of a 4 year old child who needs a heart transplant. They're insurance has reached its cap. If you or anyone you know would be willing to help them out they'd really appreciate it. Here is the link to their site and it tells Aaron's story. I've also included her last post below. http://saveabrokenheart.com/

This is Elizabeth Tanner's story:

My name is Elizabeth Tanner and I am mom to 4 wonderful boys Nicholas 14, Noah 9, Ethan would be 6 and Aaron whom this blog is for is 4 years old. Aaron was born 4 years ago with a congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrom. It is a very major heart defect that only the left side of your heart works. He has had three open heart surgeries amongst others and as of May 30th he is in renal failure and now is going to need a kidney transplant. I was just informed today that his heart is not handleing the stress and is suffering he is going to need a heart transplant at the same time makeing him one of a very few that need a multiple organ transplant. I am beside myself I truly do not know how much more I can handle.

4 years ago 6 weeks after Aaron was born we lost our then 27 month old son Ethan to what is called hypotropic cardiomyopathy. It was devastating to our family he was never diagnosed so it happened very suddenly. Through our family and friends and there emotional support and love we have made it this farr. I am starting this blog because I realy want to share Aarons story with many he is a miracle and the biggest fighter you have ever seen.

God has a reason for all things in this life we do not know what it holds for us. Aaron is here for a purpose I have been told that by many so I have to share with the world what is happening. Ethan was here on this earth with us for such a short time but he was here long enough for Aaron to be born. We have suffered emensly for loosing him my grief and the grief of my family I cannot even put into words. I keep trying to put aside my grief to take care of my son Aaron. We are truly going to need help from the outside. We have to start fundraising the transplant will take place in UCLA . He will have to wait until one is available I dont know much about the process but I will learn all I can in whatever time frame that is given to me. It is going to cost more than our Insurance covers us for we have a lifetime maximum of 350,000 and we are already very close his antirejection medication after surgery alone is more than $7,000 a month. We need help. my number is 925-899-1010 I am in the process of trying to set something on the blog to donate but you can just contact me in the meantime.

WW Update Week 3

Yay! I weighed in today at 148 so I'm down -1.2 lbs for a total lost of -5.2 lbs. Go me!

This past week this my appetite was better. I wasn't as hungry, although I did have one night where I caved and ate a bunch of Wheat Thins and sharp cheddar cheese.
Below is what I generally ate everyday. It totals to about 22 pts give or take. I'm supposed to eat 20 points daily, and then there are 35 extra points for the week that I can divide how I want. I'm using mine for wine. =) Throughout the week I upped my water intake, although I'm still not at 64 oz like they suggest. I can't be running to the bathroom all day!

I also did a good 1 hour hike on Sunday with Dina & Susanne (neighbor friends) in our hills that included some huffing and puffing. I'm parking at the end of my work parking lot too. Just little things but it all adds up. My friend/co-worker Tina also lots 1.2 pounds this week. We ROCK!!

Breakfast: 1 pouch of blueberry oatmeal from Trader Joe's - (3pts)
Coffee w/non-fat milk (2pt)
Lunch: 2 hard boiled eggs (4pt) [or Lite Progressive soup which is 3 pts]
Diet caffeine free root beer (0 pt) non-fat fruit yogurt (2pt)
Snack: String cheese (2) [or fruit]
Dinner: 2 egg omelet with tomatoes (4pt), 2 glasses of wine (4pts)
Dessert: WW Giant Fudge Bar (1pt)

If I keep up this momentum I should be in bathing suit condition in 3 weeks for our camping/boating trip and even better for my Cabo trip in October with my skinny cute friend.

WW update

Today is week 2 of my weight watchers plan. Last week my coworker/friend Tina and I started back on WW. In 2006 we were on it and I lost 22 lbs in 5 months. I reached Lifetime in 2007 which is when you stay at goal for 6 months. I did really well for almost 2 years total, then started letting my bad habits take over.

Today I weighed the same amount I did in 2006 when she and I started. 149. Last week I weighed 153!!!! I almost freaked when I saw that. But the good news is I lost 4 pounds! I knew I'd lost a pound in a week but I didn't think it was 4 pounds. I think most of it the weight was water weight from being bloated on the steroid Prednisone. Either way I'm thrilled. I'm only 5'3" so I can't afford to be that heavy. I've been told by doctors that I have a 100% chance of getting adult onset diabetes. I had gestational diabetes with both my pregnancies and in fact was on insulin w/my 2nd pregnancy where I had to give myself a shot 4 times a day. Not only that, but my brother is type 1 diabetic. They say the only thing I can do is stay healthy to prolong the disease.

Now the plan is continue losing. I'm going to Cabo in October with my really cute friend Kim and it's imperative that I look good. If the men just check & seek her out and ignore me I'm going to be devastated. It doesn't matter that I'm married and therefore not going to pursue them.

Why am I sharing my weight on a public blog? To stay accountable to myself and you. Every week on Thursday I'll post how I'm doing.

Alrighty then. I'm off to have some birthday cake for a co-worker. Just kidding!!! I won't eat the cake. I'll just look at it longingly.

Today is another hot day in Silicon Valley. We'll reach 95+ again in my neighborhood. I don't mind the heat, especially since I spend most of my time in the office with the A/C on. Normally we're spoiled and at night the temps cool off to where you can open all the windows and get a nice breeze through the house. Last night...not so much. Last night it was still 80 degrees when I went to bed.

In addition, I'm taking care of my friends/neighbors house this week while they're camping. They have a crap load of potted plants that the sprinkler system doesn't hit. After work I go over there to spend some time with their 2 cats and water their yard. I'm alternating days between the backyard and front yard. Normally when I watch their house I don't have to water anything but with this heat their plants will not survive more than a couple days.

What else do we deal with here in California? Black Widow spiders. On Sunday I got a hair up my butt to clean the side yard where Todd dumps a bunch of things. Our neighbors planted a row of bamboo next to their fence to block our view from gazing down at them from our upstairs windows. They work great. They give us shade on that side of the house too which is nice. Well, the bamboo leaves fall into that side yard making it a huge mess. While organizing before we could clean I picked up an upside down planter pot and inside was a black widow spider. I stepped on it. Not only that but there were 3 more black widows plus at least 2 egg sacs underneath the dog igloo we have outside. The igloo has a cris-cross pattern underneath that makes little boxes for them to web and attach to. Rosie, the dog, doesn't use the igloo, but we use it to block the BBQ pan (where the grease drips) to prevent her from licking the pan. Live and learn people. Nothing is more fun than having your white soft furry Lhasa Apso come inside with half her face covered in black grease. She had to tip her head to one side to reach the pan, hence why only half her face was filthy.

Okay then, that's some of my exciting life. I'm off to a work meeting where they feed me lunch. Score!

I'm itchy!

So, I thought I'd explained my previous hives experience but apparently not. That's what happens when you don't blog often enough.

On Tuesday, June 23rd I woke up with a crazy bad case of hives. I thought they were poison oak. (I'm not all that smart okay).

Let's back up a bit more. Two weekends prior to June 23rd I'd done some major clean up on the upper portion of my yard. We have a retaining wall which isn't easy to get up to and it collects leaves and has ivy running along the fence line, thanks to my backdoor neighbor Bill who has a small forest in his backyard. I was pulling and tugging at the ivy, gathering up the dead leaves with my forearms. I did in fact get a rash on my forearms that same day but it went away by night time. That night a bug the size of a Japanese horror film monster sucked or bit the heck out of my arm because I woke up with 4 (count them people!) four bug bites that itched like crazy. Throughout the week I put cortisone cream on them but not much helped.

We camped over the following weekend at Mt. Madonna, where I didn't really have too much of a problem with the bites other than the occasional itch. I also picked and broke open a couple of them.

Now we're at Monday June 22nd where I went to work like normal. For whatever reason Monday night the arm with the bites broke out in small red bumps. Being smart like I am (not) I thought, omg, those weren't bites, they must have been poison oak and I picked at them and the stuff oozed out and now I have poison oak all over my arm. I told you I'm smart (not).
Tuesday I called in sick. I was itchy and now I had bumps on both arms. Damn this poison oak is spreading fast!

By mid-day it's moved down to my legs where now I'm thinking it's not poison oak but something else. I was also MAJORLY ITCHY!!! It was awful. I call my dermatologist office claiming urgency so they squeeze me in.

I looked so bad that even the Dr. said "wow, I'm just itchy looking at you." She diagnosed me with hives and gave me a bunch of sample cortisone tubes. She also prescribed Prednisone steroid pills. I had to take it in succession like this: 6 pills for 3 days; 5 pills for 3 days; 4 pills for 3 days; 3 pills etc. down to 1 pill for 3 days. It took a week for the hives to go away but the itching did feel better after day two. I was told to take all the pills or the hives could come back. In all honestly I did not take the last two 1 day pills. I gained 5+ lbs during that time People, you are starving on Prednisone. I over ate and couldn't stop. I was starving. I had to get off that stuff as fast as possible so I only didn't take 2 pills. Could that really have screwed me up? I do not want to take Prednisone again.

Fast forward to this weekend when on Saturday I'm sitting in my backyard watching the hives slowly reappear on my arms. I checked often. By Sunday they're all over my legs too. Luckily they didn't itch but for some reason today they're really itchy. Yesterday I took Zyrtec but it made me sleepy so today I took another brand and it's not as good w/the itching.

I did call an allergist and have an appt on Friday this week to have an allergy panel of testing done to see what I'm allergic to, but for the test to be accurate I can't have antihistamines in my system for 3 days. 3 days of being itchy!!

So, that's where I'm at. All I can think of is my arms since they itch the most. My upper arms in fact. Please send non-itchy vibes my way. I really need them.

Just call me Spot

Well, my birthday is long gone. We had a fun time at my parents house for the 4th of July weekend. The girls both came in 1st place for their bike parade which made the day go well since we didn't have to hear Paula complain again this year that she lost and Shawna won.

The top story here today is that I have hives. Again. This time they're not itchy (yet) but I'm stumped and frustrated as to why all of a sudden I have chronic hives. I gained a crap load of weight on Prednisone so I do NOT want to take that again. The hives are all down my arms and legs. I don't have any on my chest, torso or face.

My SIL suggested I get an allergy screening done. I must be newly allergic to something I've eaten forever since I am a creature of habit. I eat the same foods, use the same products etc so to all of a sudden have this reaction is buggin'. Speaking of which, the bug bites are gone. Maybe the first hives weren't from the bites at all. Who the hell knows.

Either way just call me Spot.

My birthday is almost here!

I'm a July 4th baby and love it. I'm a bit obnoxious about my birthday. I'm one of those people who wants everyone to know it's my birthday. You know, so I get acknowledged with lots of attention.

Having a July 4th birthday makes me special. I like being special. Who doesn't? As a child it wasn't always that great for parties since any time you wanted to have a party ON your birthday no one was around. That pretty much sucked ass. I'm actually still in therapy over it so let's move on.

My two daughters love that Mommy gets fireworks on her birthday and that everyone celebrates their mommy's birthday.

Of course, it's also easy to forget it's mommy's birthday when there is so much celebrating to be done. Bike parades & BBQ's. I have to plan for the holiday events by buying my girls new July 4th clothes so they look spirited in the bike parade. That's how you win the bike parade. The most spirited, by age groups, wins. We decorate their bikes, heads and bodies. Shawna has won twice and Paula zero. That does not go over well. If Paula would have just understand the concept and not argue with her parents and grandparents that the hat is too big and therefore she doesn't want to wear it, she too would have won. She gets it now.

Then after dinner we have birthday cake and everyone remembers again that it's my birthday.

I go to bed a year older, a year wiser and happy knowing my kids had the best time on my birthday.