Our Home Is Back To Four

Our house of five is going back to a house of four.

Felicia has found a "big girl" job. This poor kid had no idea that LOOKING for a full-time job was in fact a full-time job in itself. The St. Louis area of late has not been the best place for someone looking for a position of employment. Felicia has found that out the hard way. It seems that ole bachelors degree doesn't open the doors it use too. NOW for the same jobs I looked at 3 years ago (the ones that wouldn't look at you unless you had that bachelors degree no matter how many years experience you had) are now wanting experienced applicants. Ones with 5 plus years of it AND a bachelors degree. She has been complaining that she is having exact opposite problem I was having when I went looking for a job. I had all the experience no degree, she has the degree no experience. (Viscous circle it is)

So with fire under her feet she expanded her job market search. She has friends in Boston, New York, and Kansas City. They were all selling her on why she should move to their city to look for a job. Of course all these cities have a better job market then St Louis just now. In the end she opted for Chicago. She has friends there, and "home" is only a short distance. So she can be here or us there is relatively a short amount to time.

Honestly though I think the deciding factor was this guy:

Let me introduce you to Jon.

They met in college, of course not until the December before she graduated. They were "party" friends. Or at least that is how it sounded to me. And he lives near Chicago. They started "dating" after graduation and have been doing the distance thing since. Both of them seem to have a good head on their shoulders about this relationship.

With what little MD and I know of Jon we like him. He pushes and challenges Felicia in ways the fiance never did. When she asks what we think of Jon my response is always:

"We don't know him well enough to like or dislike him, but what we DO LIKE is the way you are now with him"

That answer is the most honest answer I can give. My feelings behind it all: 1. He graduated college, 2. He has a good work ethic, 3. We never hear him talk down to her, 4. They don't fight over everything, 6. He does not seem to be the jealous type, and 7. Treats her with respect.

This we like.

After only a few short days she landed a job and now has been looking for a place to live. I have mixed feelings about this great adventure she is about to embark. I am excited for her as she is taking life by the horns and being brave enough to go the distance to achieve what she wants. Sad that I am 5 hours away and will not be right there to catch her when she stumbles and my support has to be from a distance.

But in the end MD and I are very proud of our little adventurer and we are confident that she will claim all the spoils that she goes after.

Monday workout

Bootcamp Day 3 - Sorry I forgot to update Friday.

Run a mile

Stretch......lots of stretching

Then every freaking kind of lung you can think of 2 minutes each. mountain climber lunge, standing lunges, etc. we did enough lunges to last 15 minutes!

Jump rope for 2 minutes

Then relay sprints for 10 minutes.

Now time for sit ups, not crunches, full on sit ups for another 2 minutes. Now another 5 minutes of stretching and scoot on home.

Now for Monday

Warm up 5 minutes of stretching.

Go run a mile.

NOW PREPARE TO PAY TO PIPER

All the following excersizes are done for a minute each. After each group (2 minutes) sprint for a minute.

1. Barbell deadlift

2. 20 foot hop scotch

3. trampoline jumps

4. mini hurdles

5. Jump rope

6. Reverse push ups (using a chair)

7. bar bell lifts

8. leg shuffles (yea that one is hard to explain)

then stretch and scoot home.

Tomorrow will fill ya in on Tuesday's Boot camp!

Wednesday in a nut shell

Wednesday was a “day of rest” or at least according to my instructors it was supposed to be. I on the other hand seem to like torturing myself. Wednesday nights are my sand volley ball nights. And last night was a double header, instead of playing just three games we played six and for some reason over half our team didn’t show. The 6:30 game we had 5 players but we fared well. Won 2 lost 1. Our 8:30 game we had two more show up and we had a volunteer (we really needed another guy) join us. The 8:30 set was an amazing game. We only won one game but it was oh so close in points on all three. We seemed well matched with the other team as we had volleys that seem to last forever. It was great and very enjoyable.

Except for this morning I am very much feeling my age. Chest, arms, thighs all ache. And tonight is Boot Camp again. I have no idea what they have in store for me to do but I can pretty much guarantee that I will NOT be doing pushups!

Devin and Mikayla’s first day of school was yesterday. They both came home in good moods and never complained once about being back. Devin actually told Felicia he was glad to be back at West and is going to “try hard to pass all his classes on time so he will graduate when he was supposed to”. I WAS SHOCKED! We will see how long THAT outlook lasts. Don’t get me wrong, I am not expecting him to fail. But you gotta know Devin and his mental status changes are changing frequently. I am just taking one day at a time with him. It is a good day when we don’t have police at our door, or screaming going on.

Felicia is on her way to Chicago as I type this. She has a job interview as soon as she gets into town. Then she will be heading to her new boy friend’s house for the rest of the weekend. She has two other interviews back here next week. But I think she is really hoping to get the one in Chicago. We shall see.

Boot Camp Day Two

Last night was an experience........that is all I have to say.

First off we casually walked around for 10 minutes "warming up" our legs and such. Then the rest of the assessments commenced.



We did as many sit ups (NOT crunches) as we could in 2 minutes. I did 42



Next we did as many push ups as we could in 2 minutes. Here I only did 22.
I have tendinitis in both elbows and shoulders (this I will talk about in a bit) so it got very painful after about 17.



Then they gave us (well everyone but me) a sheet showing how many calories, fat, carbs, & proteins we are to be consuming a day. They also had on the sheet our body fat percentage. Again I did not get a sheet because my weird little body stumped them. I was promised that I would have one emailed to me today (so far have not gotten it). The reason they are stumped with me is that many years ago I started getting the shakes and dizzy spells (passing out most of the time). I went to the doctor was run through a bunch of tests and the answer I received was that I have an extremely high metabolism. Perfectly healthy otherwise. Also found out that my blood pressure is freakishly low. (last check 86/62) Now before you go off cursing me like most people do, take a breath and imagine:



You HAVE to eat something every two hours, you HAVE to have like 6 meals a day, and you HAVE to eat as close to 3,000 calories a day as possible. AND if you work out or are active increase that number. I have to carry food with me everywhere.



Now while most of you may think .... awww poor her, she HAS to eat. I have passed out at county fairs, on the job, and friends houses and pretty much scaring the crap out of everyone. My sister once said she watched come out of a room fall against the wall and kind of shimmied down to the floor. She said she didn't know what to do so she shook me (we were teens at the time). I usually am not out for long and am usually pale, sweaty and vomiting afterwords. Not a pretty site by any means.



OOPS Sorry got carried away there, back to the boot camp.



So now I am sitting there listening to the discussions regarding tracking food portions, calorie counting, protein counting and such and I must have had a dazed lost look on my face because the instructor giggled and asked if I understood. I could only answer ........ NO. I have never had to do such a thing and I would have no idea how or where to start. They gave me this cool web site



http://www.sparkpeople.com/



I just put in what and how much I eat and it does the rest for me. This "journaling" is something we have to do everyday without exceptions. And we need to either email it to them daily or bring it to class so they can see where we are at and how we are doing. After the little dietary pep talk we went and ran 1/2 mile.



Plus side!!!!! One of the trainers is a massage therapist for athletes. She said that she will work with me on getting my elbows and shoulders back. She said (and I have heard this before) that I have A LOT of scar tissue especially in the shoulders. Damn tendinitis. And she will be giving me exercises to help strengthen the muscles there.



So far here are my stats that I know:



Height 5' 4"

Weight 129 pounds

Bust 37.5 inches (I have Never been this big without being pregnant! YEA BOOBS)

waist 28 inches

Hips 37 inches

Upper Arm 9 inches (why they measured this and what it means I have no idea)

Body fat percentage 16 %



Mile run 10 minutes flat

Site Ups 42

Push Ups 22



They measured more but that was all I could remember. At the end of six weeks I was GUARANTEED shrinkage in my measurements and increases in mile, sit ups, and push ups.

Now we get a day off. Thursday in the actual first day of abuse (that quoted directly from my instructor). So can I get a big Hu-Ahh (Hu-Rah is marines and we are Army so I have been told)

HU-AHH

Hoo-Ahhh

Yesterday I had my first night at Boot Camp Challenge. It was the first assessment night. They pinched all my jiggly parts and wrote down measurements (Yes I will post them as soon as I get them from my trainer). None of which made me feel very good, ugh I dislike my jiggly parts!

I have a class of 7, so it is nice and small. BUT that also means I get a lot of personal attention from the trainers. So if I am slacking at all they will be all over me.

I was asked by friends to keep a log of everything we do and what the nutritionist have us eat. This second part may be a bit hard for others to follow as the nutritionist set up diets or eating habits for each individual. My doctor years ago said that I am supposed to eat upwards of 3000 calories a day, especially when I am exercising. So my friends you may not want to follow my food intake list.

So for you CRAZY people who want to do boot camp along with me (just a day behind) go do your mile run/jog/walk. My time was 10 minutes for a mile.

My daughter was very proud of me for this time seeing how I am over 40 years old, a smoker, and haven't run THAT far in years. (her words exactly).

Check back tomorrow for what was dished out this evening!

The Amazing Things That Come Out of Their Mouths.

Yes I know it has been quit a while since I have been here. Sorry. My mind has been blown and I am trying to piece it back together. But I had to just share this story if for no other reason then when I look back years from now at this blog journal of things I will see this story and laugh.

School is getting ready to begin on the 18th. Part of me can't wait for it to start. The other part is dreading the morning arguments that come with getting my son to get up and ready for school. Ahhh but that tid bit is for another post.

So with the anticipation of school starting comes getting schedules, school pictures, etc. Devin's day to pick up schedules was last Tuesday. We decide to do this task in the afternoon due to the before mentioned not getting up in the morning problem. I leave work at noon and call him on my way home to (warn) let him know I am on my way. When I get home I head straight to my room to change into something more comfortable (St. Louis temps have been hovering in the high 90s with heat indexes going into the 100s) because my jeans were sticking to my legs.

I come downstairs and my LOVELY son looks at me and we continue with this conversation:

Devin: Is that what you are wearing?

Me: (For just a second I am stunned into silence.) Did you really just ask me that?

Devin: Yea, it looks like you just got out of bed.

Me: (stunned again) Seriously, you just asked me that? This from you who just picked up something off the floor, smelled it to make sure it was from the "clean" area in your room?

Devin: Well if your going to wear that, are you going in the building with me?

Mind you, what I am wearing is a pair of shorts (I wear the gym type) and a T-Shirt.

Me: Umm, yes I am going in. I AM the one who has to pay for everything. ($30 for school pictures, $50 for yearbook, $60 lunch account, etc)

Devin: Really you look like you just rolled out of bed. I don't want to be seen with you.

Me: (super stunned) Dude (yes I say that word) you are wrinkled, wild hat hair, and barely match and you are embarrassed to go with me? Who do you think we are going to see. Your friends look like they haven't showered for days and dress about the same as you. So who else am I having to impress?

He has NEVER made a comment about what I wear, style of my clothes. Never. This was just out of the blue weird for him. Though he did go upstairs and change his shirt, and comb his hair. Really who was he trying to impress?

At this point I just shook my head, went upstairs and put a tank top on. THIS he approved of! Strange kid.

Beeping

A couple month ago our faithful washer crapped out. So MD and I went on a search for a new washer & Dryer (MD likes MATCHING sets.

This is what HE picked. He went on and on about Bosch, how reliable they are, what a great company they were, and on and on. I sort of tuned him out after I saw the price (yes I am the penny pincher of the house). I have been so nervous about purchasing this type of machines. I have several friends who went all "high efficiency" and have nothing but bad luck with any brand of these machines.

Well I have to report that we have not had one teeny tiny problem. As a matter of fact they are supper quiet AND laundry time has been cut dramatically! Which of course in turns saves me money on the utility front also. BONUS!

MD was in a spending mode that day..... so he also talked me into a new dishwasher.

I will have to admit our dishwasher was a bit noisy, but it worked fine. You just had to turn the TV up a bit. But in the end, AGAIN, he was right. Life is a little quieter and utilities a little lower with the new appliances.

This week is not starting out well at all.

At work a bird flew into our transformer and it blew. A blown transformer means no power, and no power means no computer, microwave, or AIR CONDITIONING. I have never seen AmrenUE respond so quickly to a call though. I will have to give that cudos to them. Luckily I had a bit of work to do that did not need a computer, and we have plenty of windows which provided enough light to work by. But it did start to get a bit warm.

AmrenUE got the transformer fixed within three hours. That time count started as soon as we lost power to the minute it was back on. Like I said, never seen them respond so fast before. Makes one think.

Then I get home and Devin, Mikayla, and David are in the living room. No I did not inherit or have another child. They had a friend in the house when I got home. (and that breaks one of the rules of the House). As the kids and I chatted, I wandered around the house putting things away that were not where they belonged. As I approached the living room I noticed "things" were missing and/or out of place. The missing item I started asking about. Everybody responded like I was an idiot and didn't know what I was talking about. Finally after roaming through the entire first floor without finding it. Going up stairs to change (ranting the whole time) and coming back down stairs with it not produced in front of me. I proclaimed that everyone was grounded until my missing item was returned.

I knew something was up because I could hear Mikayla telling Devin, "If you don't I am" which is a sure sign they both know what is going on and that Devin had something to do with it. Mikayla does not like "snitching" on her brother, but likes being grounded even less. So finally with enough prodding THEY came down and told me.

Devin now has to clean all the baseboards in the house. All three floors totally 4500 square feet of house which all rooms have baseboards. And yes that is including the finished basement. He is none too happy about it, but I explained that I am none too happy about my broken stuff.

Tit for Tat.

Wondering what tomorrow holds in store for me........in addition to the 100 degree temps everyone is talking about.

No Words can explain

I am playing catch up today. Don't get too excited. I am playing catch up on reading every one's blogs. It is hot outside and my "TOM" showed up this morning so I really feel like doing nothing.

What is TOM. Well the ladies will know TOM and know TOM well. It is my youngest daughters way of telling me her "time of month"has come. I thought it was cute and it stuck. So that is TOM.

Anyway, I was catching up reading, boy I have been gone a while. You all have written so much and done so much. I feel sometimes that I have been standing still, not accomplishing much, just getting up, going through the motions, going to bed, and doing all over the next day. Nothing really to write home (or to you) about.

Sure I could rant for ever on the progress OR there lack of with Devin and his whatever they are calling it now. Me I call it a royal pain in the ass. Different doctors diagnose him with different things and let me tell you nothing they do help for any length of time. It all starts out promising, but within a few months the demon seed comes back.

Or I could go on forever on how excited and proud I was that Felicia broke off her 5 year relationship-engagement. I could tell you that she is trying desperately to not get serious with a boy she is seeing and failing miserably. How she is enjoying/hating a long distance relationship (they live 5 hours apart). How she is rushing on trying to figure out what to do with her life. Though I keep telling her not to rush, there is no need. She sis graduate from college a year early. So enjoy the year then worry about life. I keep telling her the grind of life will all still be there next year.

Or I could go on about Mikayla and her quick sarcasms make me smile most days. Though I am NOT ready for her to be in High School, be interested in BOYS, or grow up as fast as she is. I guess being the youngest of three will do that.

But really they are the same stories over and over. And I really do not want to make you think my life is so horrible that all I can do is complain all the time.

Actually I do have a saying about complaining in my house. You are allowed to complain about a topic once and only once. Then you have to make a choice on what to do or not do about what ever it is you are complaining about. You either do something to fix said problem or you deal with it but if you are choosing to just do nothing about it then you loose the rights to complain any more about it.

Oops I totally got off track of what I originally was wanting to write about. TOM has my brain on off today also I believe. Sorry about that. As I started out saying in the beginning of this babbling brook of words. I was catching up on your lives and doings. I happended across this Blog post Its My Pink. She moved me to tears. I mean serious tears. Her feelings were so powerful in her writing they came right out of the page. Made me kind of put my problems right into perspective that is for sure.

IDIOTS

I'm just saying.........

Some people are just so......................

They just make you wanna drop kick them across the room!

Can you tell it was a bad day?

Paybacks

Did you ever notice that when you are going to go on any kind of vacation you have to work like twice as much at work the week before you to make sure you have everything done before you leave?

Then when you come back you have three times as much work to do than you normally would have. Like no one else could do your job while your gone.

Does that mean if you left the company your job would never get done?

Makes going on a vacation somewhat depressing. What is with that!

Administrative Professionals Day

Today is Administrative Professionals Day.

And seeing that this is what I and two others in the office do for a living (among other things), my coworkers had a luncheon (I think this was already planned) and gave us this cool cookie bouquet.

I am sure I have said this before, but I work with "Professionals" (using THAT term loosely). They are a bunch of Geologist, Engineers, Biologist, Environmental Scientist, and mixtures of each. I am assuming you have to have a "strange soul" be be one of these people.

But as strange as they may be, they do make work interesting sometimes. And that is good, because working with numbers and scanning all day can get quite monotonous.

I am grateful for the people I work with, they are some of the reasons I like my job, and some of the reasons I want to scream at the end of the day.

Defiantly keep things interesting.

Thanks Guys!

A Little Giggle and a Little Wiggle

Friday my sister, Jodi, and I decided we wanted to go dancing on Saturday night. I wanted MD & Le to go with us, but oh no they did not want anything to do with that. The party poopers!

So we all decided to go to Harra's casino, we went to dinner at the steak house (yea cannot remember the name just now), then the girls and I went to the Vodoo Lounge and the guys went to gamble.

For the first time in YEARS I was carded. I asked the bounder if he was kidding. He said he had to card anyone who did not look over 30. I just looked at him, laughed and told him I LOVE YOU and gave him a hug. Then handed him my ID and told him I was the oldest in the group. He looked at my ID then to me and said he would have never guessed I was 43. Lier but that's okay made me feel good anyway.

The band playing was Paint the Earth. We discussed (like school girls) which one we thought was the "cutest". Jodi was all up into the singer, Audrey and I dug the base player. To me the singer looked like he might have been in his early (if that) thirties, but the base player looked more my age and looked FINE.

Yea I am married but so not blind or dead.

Anyway, we had a really good time. I even enjoyed the free drinks I was getting from the guys hitting on my sister and Jodi. When I snuck away to see MD he wanted to know how many were hitting on me. Told him none, duh wedding ring. He said I was supposed to tell him all kinds were.

He is such a goober.

Sup???

I sit here trying to catch up on everyone blog lives. And wonder.....do all of you REALLY have such exciting lives or is it that you are all just able to tell ordinary things in extraordinary ways. Story telling is definitely not in my arsenal of talents. So kudos to all you great story tellers!


Anywaaaayy.


Felicia is home for spring break. Too broke to go anywhere else (and no I am NOT giving her MORE money to go on a trip) so she came home. She brought home a friend with her. His name is Rolland (a.k.a. vampire which is Mikayla's nickname for him)and he is from Alaska.




He is such a laid back fellow (which is a really good thing with staying here for the entire week), very polite, gets along with everyone here and all her friends at school, AND most importantly he has not gotten on MD's nerves.





He is currently sitting here with Mikayla quizzing her for a Social Studies test tomorrow. I think Mikayla is developing a slight crush. She thinks he is "cool" and "fun". It is a good thing he feels comfortable sitting here without Felicia, she is currently up in her room on the phone arguing with her boyfriend.





I personally think they are "cute" together. They look a lot alike. And he is the perfect height for her.......she is 5' and he is 5'5".


They been to the butterfly house (because she had an interview for an internship), Union Station, the Arch, Bush Wildlife. Tomorrow she said that they are going to a few museums. That is if they get up before noon. She said they also plan on hitting the Science Center.

A Birthday Party He Will Not Soon Forget

MD's birthday party once again was a surprise to him.

He repeatedly said that he did not want a party. HA is all I had to say to that!

I am actually very surprised myself that I was able to pull it off without him finding out.

I thought for sure he had suspicions. He did get very sneaky.

I had originally planned to have the party at a place called SpyBar. Michele, Jodi, and I went one evening in December (under the veil that we were Christmas shopping) and fell in love with the place. And the name went perfectly with the James Bond party theme.

But as time went by I had kept trying to contact the manager to get things finalized and I kept getting no answer. One night in January I called the number again and it was disconnected. Needless to say I FREAKED.

I went on a mad scramble to secure another location. I thought I was doomed. It was very difficult locating another restaurant/bar that would be able to accommodate the group I had coming. Finally I contacted one of MD's Pepsi clients, it was a newly opened establishment. Rich was all for it, and so excited. He normally did not cater but said that he wanted to do it up right for MD.

Finally I had a place so I got back on the ball making his invitations.

And got them mailed as quick as I could as it was about three weeks before the date that I was having the party. And it could not be changed as I had people coming in from out of town and tickets were already purchased.

In the mean time Mr. sneaky britches was rooting though my email seeing if he could find out if I was up to something. He found an email from a photographer I hired for the party.

He had been dropping hints for about a week and a half that he knew something was up. So I fessed up. Told him that I DID plan a party. I confessed everything........well everything about the party at SpyBar. But I told him that SpyBar closed. That they turned into an under 21 club!

I told him about the other places I tried. Told him about the manager at Blue Sky (what a JERK). Told him that I was unable to locate another location that would close a section for us on a Saturday evening. They all said that they could not accommodate the size party I was planning. So he was getting his wish, he was NOT getting a party.

The following day he informed me "HE" received an email from a photographer saying she was going to meet me at SpyBar. Sneaky bugger! I asked him to give me the email. That I needed the phone number or email to let them know the party was canceled. But he said he deleted it. How convenient!

I kept that ruse up until the very end!

Now the excuse to get him dressed up you ask???

Well that is another creative fib I had to come up with. My neighbor Michele is a nurse in a cardiac cath lab. SOOOOOO we came up with ....... now wait here it comes......

The St. Louis Heart Association Annual Dinner Benefit

Jim & Michele said they had two extra tickets and wanted us to go with them. Totally worked like a charm!!!! Oh, and why were we going to Maxwells first? Well had that covered also. Michele said that they were meeting another nurse there and then going to the banquet hall. She even had another friend of ours call her while we were on our way "asking where we were at".

Michele was perfect. She even explained the personalities of the "doctors" that would be attending the dinner. She had Mike totally fooled!

The party was great. Mike has not relaxed that much in YEARS. I mean he danced, talked, played, ate and drank.

He got silly with me and the kids (yes I talked the bar owner into allowing Devin & Mikalya in the bar until 9pm). We had an all male dance review (they kept their clothes on however) going on early in the evening. It was soo funny seeing all these grown men dancing on the dance floor with absolutely no women out there. And having fun.

No one had a care in the world it seemed.

Devin was amazing and so well behaved. And some of MD's coworkers were flirting with him. Devin just ate it up. But I have to admit he did clean up good!

MD's sister, brother in-law, and nephew came in from Georgia. I was disappointed, I barely got to speak with them.

His Aunt Sophi also came. I just LOVE this woman. I have known her since I was a kid. I have known MD's cousin Jon since I was 15. He is partially the reason MD & I met. But that is another story for another day.

MD and I use to dance all the time. I have missed that and it was so much fun just letting loose and dancing all night.

We danced with everyone. And had a lovely time.