The Life and Times...

As if I weren’t random enough

2012-02-21T22:21:00.001-05:00

This is all about the randomness…

The February birthdays and anniversaries were celebrated yesterday at work. I went to hear what they had to say and was honestly pretty excited about getting some cake or a cupcake. Imagine my disappointment when I’m standing there all hungry and hoping for a cupcake and they handed out candy bars… I came back to my desk and ate my cottage cheese instead. Not nearly as good as a cupcake.

I had the pleasure of stopping next to a Maserati on an exit ramp waiting for the light this morning. I will say that I’m not impressed with how the car looked. I’d relate it to a Nissan 350Z. Not exciting for the amount of money that woman paid for it… I’d keep my money and just drive a Nissan.

I had a good update with the doctor today. I only have three weeks and two doctor visits left. We are making progress with teaching my muscles to relax and just go where they should. Also my teeth are coming together on the sides so that when I am finally ready to chew there are teeth there to do some chewing.

I learned the hard way today that I am not ready to chew. I heated up some lasagna that I made last night and without thinking I started to bite down on a piece in my mouth. I caught myself and stopped but that small amount of pressure now has my jaw aching. Lesson learned that three screws holding my bones together isn’t enough support for pasta.

I am going to nurse my aching jaw and get some rest.

Three weeks in & three to go

2012-02-20T22:01:00.001-05:00

First, let me start off with the fact that I am painfully aware of the fact that I have gone over a week without updating the blog… but for those who have been following for any length of time realize that this kind of progress… no?

Tomorrow marks three weeks post surgery. It also marks three weeks before I can chew again. What do I want to eat first?! I feel really good. My energy feels good. I went back to work last Tuesday. I did pretty okay energy wise at work but after I got home, ate my Valentine’s meal (more about that in a second) and went out for a B1G1 free Sonic sundae – I was totally spent.

For Valentine’s Day, I decided I was going to have a ~~hamburger~~ cheeseburger with mushrooms, pickles, ketchup, mustard, lettuce & tomatoes from Five Guys for dinner. But how does someone who can’t chew eat a cheeseburger with toppings for dinner?

Uh, well, you put it in a food processor! I know that looks disgusting but it tasted good. I’ve had to learn to look past what the food looks like in the bowl or cup or whatever container I choose to eat some mush. So don’t judge me. Maybe you should try it.

I finally made it back to the gym today at lunch. It felt good to get back there and get sweaty again. I started slow and just lifted weights. I did realize that it’s hard to sit back up after doing crunches and other ab exercises on the floor. Think about it next time you’re laying on the floor and need to sit up (or even laying in the bed). I don’t know why but apparently I do some major jaw clenching when I try to sit up… kind of aches a little bit tonight.

I’ve got some hesitation to getting back to running. I know my teeth are sore so it’ll hurt a little if they knock together. I may give a slow run a try this week… we’ll see.

Here’s a mirror picture of me after my workout today. Slightly hot mess, but not too bad. Check out how good that lack of swelling looks! It’s not all gone yet – but it’s getting better by the day.

I took this in the ladies locker room… and for the record, I double checked that there were no naked women in the background. Trust me – no one wants to see that.

But since we’re talking about hot messes – here’s a more up close, hot mess photo.

So that’s a little update for how I’m doing these days. I have more I want to talk about…but if I talk about it all now, what would I talk about later? Ha!

Tomorrow is my follow up doctor appointment…I’m sure it will be just fine. Maybe my mouth will open more than 22 centimeters tomorrow. Apparently 44 centimeters is normal? …or at least a large enough opening for a hamburger or a sub sandwich. mmmmm!

Some "Befores" and "Nows"

2012-02-12T21:49:00.001-05:00

The Profile:

From the front:

I am quite pleased with the results of the surgery. Now I am just in the mode to retrain my muscles for what is the new normal. I spent so many years with my muscles putting my jaw into one position and now they are having to learn a new position. It’s like jaw boot camp. Practice makes perfect, right?

The swelling is almost totally gone. You can tell in the front shot that my face still has some swelling down towards the jaw line and in the neck. Basically right now my face looks as if I am 10-15 pounds heavier (which is fine). Funny thing is that I’ve lost about 6 pounds going to this liquid diet. I haven’t continued to lose weight now that the swelling has decreased, my mouth is healing nicely, and the raw feeling and huge taste buds are subsiding. So all in all I can eat “normal” foods again – just not chew.

People do keep asking me what I’m allowed to eat. The answer to that is truly anything. There aren’t any forbidden foods except the foods that are “no-no’s” because of braces. I’m just not allowed to chew anything. I can’t put anything between my teeth and gnash it. Not for another 4 weeks anyway. In 4 weeks, I’m going to eat a hamburger or something.

So in an effort to break out of drinking all of my meals, I have upgraded to scrambled eggs, avocados, Sheppard's Pie, chili, vanilla wafers in milk, cottage cheese, cream of wheat cereal, oatmeal… so soft things, but manageable things. Things small children with no (or hardly any) teeth would or could eat. That’s me…minus the baby food and formula/milk.

I am planning on heading back to work on Tuesday. I have to get a note from Dr. D tomorrow to get released to go back to work. Plus someone once told me that you should never return to work from an absence (vacation or otherwise) on a Monday. Sounds good to me! Ha! I’ll use the extra day to check a few more things off my random house project “to do” list.

Friday was the first day that I had the itch to get back into the gym. I was hanging around Friday morning and thought to myself “Man, I want to go to the gym!” That was honestly the first time I had thought that since my surgery – so I must be feeling better! I decided to hold off on reacting to that itch until sometime this week. When I asked when I could be released to exercise – I was told that I could exercise whenever I felt ready and that one women who ran 5 miles/day was back to running after 2 weeks. Since it hadn’t been quite two weeks yet – and I think that lady is more hardcore than I am – I decided to continue to park my behind on the sofa and chill. Actually, I just ended up running errands and doing chores around the house…but that’s neither here nor there.

I do have some more good smoothie recipes to share. Those will be coming soon!

One Week Out

2012-02-08T13:53:00.001-05:00

Let’s just show some pictures here first…

Super Bowl Sunday – around half time

I was trying to get a good shot of the sexy green bruise on my neck.

This was one week out from surgery. Feelin’ good!

That thing that looks like a shadow on my neck is some bruising. It doesn’t hurt, it just looks ugly. Yesterday was the first day that I just felt really, really good. I had energy and was laughing and joking at the doctor’s office. It felt so good to feel like I was getting back to normal again.

My biggest complaint yesterday was that the rubber bands were just digging into my cheeks from the swelling and it was painful – so it’s like a Catch-22 because the pain was causing it to swell more. The other biggest complaint was that the inside of my mouth was just so.raw. As in it felt like I ate an entire pineapple in one sitting raw. I stuck to creamy, easy, bland food yesterday. I did take a sip of wine that The Mr. was bottling and it burned like hot alcohol or mouth rinse. I am also keeping wax on the spots that are problem areas to help out also. Getting the swelling down will help me keep things clean easier plus keep all of this stuff in my mouth from digging in.

My appointment with Dr. D went really well yesterday. He adjusted the rubber bands to get them out of my cheeks. It puts them more towards the front – so it limits my bite and being able to get forks & spoons into my mouth…but hey, if it means that my cheeks are getting a break, I don’t care if it takes me 30 minutes to eat a plate of eggs. He said that the swelling looks great and my muscles are calming down and allowing my jaw to come into alignment where it’s supposed to be. I got a homework assignment to stand in front of the mirror and work on my bite. I have to retrain the muscles for what is correct and normal.

The Mr.’s new running joke is coming home and asking me what I did that day. Whomp, whomp! He’s funny. I should make him leave me a list of things he wants me to finish that day before he goes to work… Actually, now that I think about it – he did leave me a list and I did everything except for one (the taxes). I did those this morning plus a bunch of other things on my “to do” list… I’ve kept the list so I can tell him everything I did today… which really isn’t A LOT because I’m trying to hold myself back so I can make sure I get better quickly.

Monthly Goal Refresher

2012-02-07T08:29:00.001-05:00

Let’s revisit the January goals I set for myself:

1. Jaw surgery. Get it done. Survive it. This one came in under the wire for the January goals. Surgery happened on Jan. 31 as you have seen based on my updates.

2. Run the Greenville News 5k on January 21. I completed this in 30:53! It was a fun run to do as my first 5k. I enjoyed it and I’d do another one but I’m not so sure that I’m “addicted”. Plus, I’m not running anywhere until I get over this jaw surgery bit.

3. Finish 3 books. I didn’t so much read any books in January. I did *start* a new book though – which is good. So that’s positive.

February Goals:
I am going to make these easy so I don’t push myself too hard recovering from surgery. Plus it’s a short month…and it’s already 7 days in, so there.

1. Finish my puzzles (3 total)

2. Go back to work. :-) This should be easy since it’s bound to happen at some point during the month!

3. Start exercising again.

Super Bowl Sunday! (and Day 6)

2012-02-06T19:49:00.001-05:00

I will preface this with this post is pretty bland because things have been pretty quiet and boring around these parts. More of the same, basically.

Yesterday (Day 5) was a pretty busy day. We had some friends visit after they went to church. They brought The Mr. (and themselves) bagels for brunch. I was brought a smoothie from Smoothie King. They brought me a large and told me it was the smallest one they had. :-)

They stayed and visited for a bit and then we headed out for our weekly Costco trip. It was nice to get out of the house and go poke around Costco. They were handing out samples and some of them I could even eat! It was exciting to be able to try some of the things there in the small samples to see if I could handle it or not.

The afternoon was pretty uneventful. I napped and laid around in general trying to rest up for the Super Bowl party at a neighbors later that night. The Super Bowl Party was fun. I was a little tired and felt a little light headed – so I sat on the couch for most of it. There were some people there that I hadn’t seen in a while and/or didn’t know I was having jaw surgery. They, of course, wanted to chat about it which is difficult in this condition. haha. We left after halftime and came home to watch the rest of the game from our bed. It was a nice night overall. It felt really good to get out and do something different.

I ate something before we went down the street since I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat most of the food there. I did eat some cake, a brownie, and some dip. It was good. Things that are a little spicy have been tasting very spicy to me because the inside of my mouth is so raw. The dip was a bit spicy – so I am paying for it today.

Today, I guess I could tell that I did a lot yesterday. I slept pretty well but woke up several times during the night. I had to get up before The Mr. went to work so I could shower before he left – just in case. We don’t want to risk me getting tired in the shower and falling. Could you imagine? Wow.

Pretty lazy day overall. I lounged around and got pretty bored. I needed a quiet day though because I felt “off” all day. Every time I got up to move around my heart rate would go way up and I felt pretty light headed. I thought it was associated with the food or calorie intake – but I ate quite a bit today, actually. I feel better tonight.

Overall, I feel good. The swelling is coming down slowly but surely. Besides my braces and rubber bands digging into my lips and cheeks, the pain isn’t too bad. I have been putting wax on my braces to keep the appliance pain at bay. I hope that all of that is gone by the end of the week? Here’s hoping… this whole thing is totally manageable if you’re not in pain from things digging into you.

Day 4

2012-02-04T21:02:00.001-05:00

My face looks a little bit smaller today. I wasn’t so convinced just looking in the mirror but after comparing my photo from yesterday and the right photo from today, I think it does look better. I decided to take a photo with a smile, too, so people don’t think that I am just miserable and hating life.

My right cheek looks puffier than the left – but I think the left cheek is all swollen inside my mouth and between my teeth. It kind of sucks, really. The corners of my mouth are cracked so I just keep them coated with chaps stick. It helps some but I’d like for it to go away.

Most of the day was uneventful. I worked on my puzzle quite a bit and watched some TV. I had a smoothie for breakfast (strawberry-blueberry…it was pretty good) and another for lunch – the Skinny Green Monster – from Skinny Taste. I’m only linking you to it – I’m not even going to post the recipe. In my opinion, it was “meh” at best. The first glass was…well, fine. The second glass, I had to choke half of it down and then I just couldn’t do anymore. I think it was the slightly bitter after taste from the spinach that was getting me. Maybe if I had added an apple to it or something – but it just wasn’t cutting it for me. Especially not when I was hungry and my husband was eating boudain. Lame.

We did go out on an adventure today. We went to the library (I got asked to leave because I had a drink and no food or drink are allowed apparently?) – whatever. I just say in the lobby. I was tired anyway. Then we went to the grocery store and found some other food for me to eat that was a little different than what I had been eating. With all of the Super Bowl Parties and shows and food clips on TV, I had been craving some meat or chili or salsa. We picked up some avocados and a few more cans of soup.

It was a nice pick-me-up to make guaco-salsa that I can eat for part of my dinner tonight (1 avocado, some diced tomato, onion powder, salt, pepper and cilantro). Oh my wow – it was so good! Then I had some French Onion soup with cheese on top – delicious! So I am branching out and finding ways to satisfy my cravings.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. A friend of ours from work and his wife are going to stop by tomorrow after church. They said they are going to bring bagels for everyone but gobstoppers for me. Ha! Actually, I think I’m getting a smoothie… We also need to make our weekly trip to Costco – hopefully I am up for it. Then later on one of our neighbors is having a Super Bowl get together. I will have to eat up before I go and then maybe take something with me to eat while I’m there. People will be chowing down on things like wings and such. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it to all of these things tomorrow without being totally wiped out. I have Monday to recover, right?

What One Eats When They Can’t Chew.

2012-02-04T09:55:00.000-05:00

Part 1 of many, I am sure…

A question on so many people’s minds, right? Right. And I make a promise to you that it’s more than just smoothies and ice cream. I can hardly get a spoon in my mouth – plus ice cream with chunks would also prove to be difficult since I’d want to munch them up!

I found an insert in one of my old Real Simple magazines (dated Feb. 2011). It was 10 Ideas for Smoothies. How appropriate!

Banana-Cashew Smoothie
from Real Simple

Recipe:
1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews in a blender. Cover & refrigerate until cashews have softened, at least 6 hours (we did overnight)
Add 1 cup ice, 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp maple syrup. Blend until smooth.

Nutrition: 301 calories, 16g fat, 6g protein, 38g carbs, 21g sugar, 3g fiber

This one was good. Very good, in fact. It does take some forethought though since you have to soak the cashews for 6 hours (or overnight). It would be a little high on calories, sugar and fat for someone who were to be dieting. Since I’m interested in higher calorie and high protein items – this fit the bill for me. Maybe I’ll get a photo next time it gets blended up – but for now, this is the one off of the Real Simple webpage. Accurate depiction.

Raspberry and Nut Smoothie

from Real Simple

Recipe:
3/4 cup low-fat milk, 3/4 cup frozen raspberries, 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp almond or peanut butter, 1 tbsp agave nectar or honey
Blend until smooth!

Nutrition: 355 calories, 14g fat, 10g protein, 53g carbs, 40g sugar, 7g fiber

This recipe was also great. It says it serves one person – but we also use a whole banana (instead of a half, in both) so for us it really makes like 1.5 servings. Neither the raspberry or the peanut butter really jump out and claim the stage – it’s a nice blend of them both.

This recipe and the previous recipe are so high in calories and fat because of the fresh nuts that are added in. Again, maybe not the best for someone on a strict calorie count – but great for someone who is trying to maintain their weight with a strong workout routine or gain weight even.

Avocado Smoothie

from All Recipes

Recipe: (2 servings)

1 ripe avocado, halved and pitted,

1 cup milk,

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt,

3 tbsp honey,

8 ice cubes. Blend until smooth.

Nutrition: 370 calories, 18g fat, 9g protein, 7g fiber

I know what you’re thinking…avocado smoothie? Gross! But it’s so NOT gross – it was very good! The texture was very light – reminds me of key lime pie or instant pistachio pudding. Yum! I’ll definitely make this one again.

I don’t think my calories were as high as what are posted on All Recipes. I used fat free milk and Greek yogurt…so it may have been more like 300 calories instead of 370 – but neither here nor there.

More to come…I am having some fun keeping my diet interesting.

Day 3...

2012-02-03T19:18:00.001-05:00

Today was eventful – I actually got to leave the house!

Last night was fine. I slept through most of it and took my ice off my face around 2am or so. I slept for another four hours after that – it’s the little things, right? I feel like such a six month old (have I mentioned that already? I think so…moving on).

Here’s my face shot for the day – this was before we went to the doctor’s office for a follow up. I actually got up, bathed, got dressed and combed my hair. Woah!

The swelling on the right is worse than on the left. This same phenomena happened with my wisdom teeth. If I were a betting person and had someone to bet with – my right side will go down in the next day or so and the left side will flair up. That’d be my guess. If I blew the picture up some more, you could probably see the green-ish bruising on the sides of my chin. From the surgeon’s big ol’ man hands.

I got a good report at the doctor’s office today. They cleaned up my teeth and said that I had been doing a good job keeping them clean. It makes sense because I don’t like feeling like I have a nasty mouth! They took an x-ray of my mouth when I got to the office. It’s so wild to see the “blank” places in my mouth where the jaw moved forward. The estimations are on the left about 10mm (or 1 cm) and the right 7-8 mm. Think about that – one centimeter? That’s like >___< that far…or so. Whatever. Apparently I look great as far as the swelling goes and I’m “leaps and bounds” ahead of most other people who go through this. I suppose I am just an overachiever. My bite is a little off to the right – but with some muscle training we can fix that.

It’s supposed to be downhill on the swelling from here. I can tell a difference already between how I feel tonight and how I felt this morning when I woke up. Each day should be easier and I go back for another appointment with the doctor on Tuesday afternoon. Then he will take out the stitches on my face (which the tape is starting to itch a little now) and I’ll get inspected and cleaned up again.

Besides the doctor’s appointment today – I also started on one of my puzzles. I took a much needed nap. I also went for a walk in the neighborhood and saw a few neighbors. It was nice to get out and get some fresh air. I hate sitting around all day – but I know I need to right now.

Our next door neighbor, Cara, stopped by today with a little gift bag. She’s so sweet – she brought me some supplies to make some strawberry-blueberry smoothies. She knows how much I enjoy a healthy little smoothie! :-) She brought enough for three and I said “Yay! Three smoothies for me!” The Mr. says, “Three? I get one of them!!” ha. He’s so funny.

This weekend will probably be slow. I have no real plans for the Super Bowl – obviously. I thought one of the neighbors was going to do something so then at least he could get out of the house and be social. I am sure he’s tired of just looking at me all day.

Day 2: Post Surgery

2012-02-02T20:54:00.001-05:00

I didn’t take a picture today. I could take one now but it may as well apply to “Day 3: Post Surgery” at this point, right?

Nothing new to note today. My jaw doesn’t ache like it did a yesterday or this morning – so that’s a positive. The pressure in my face and neck is really what’s getting to me. My mouth is so swollen that the braces and rubber bands are digging into my lips. Apparently most people are still numb at this point. For me, the left side of my face started waking up shortly after surgery. Today was full of the “pins and needles” on the left side of the face. My right side of the face looks like a victim of some sort of abuse. It’s rough.

I felt pretty crummy this morning – but I think that was in part of still getting all of the hospital drugs out of my system and my body trying to overcome that hump. The day passed by just fine. The Mr. and I hung out some this morning at watched some TV. He ran to Wal-Mart pretty early looking for a few things to make me more comfortable (like something better for me to take my antibiotic and some more ice packs). I sat downstairs some while he watched a movie. I tried to watch the movie but my body wanted a nap – so I napped instead.

The weather outside was beautiful – so I sat outside for about an hour and a half or so. Who’s ever heard of the temperature at the beginning of February having a high of 73? The groundhog apparently decided we’re going to have 6 more weeks of winter. Do you think that means we are going to now have 6 weeks of winter? Or will it be more of the same? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see! Six weeks from now I’ll be able to chew again – so that’s just a hop, skip and a jump away!

Food today went okay. Breakfast was Muscle Milk and Orange Almond Smoothie. Lunch was some apple juice and a bowl of Chicken Tortilla Soup (blended up quite nicely). I had some juice and coffee in the afternoon. Then for dinner I had a Raspberry-Nut Smoothie. All were very good. I’ll have to blog the recipes for these when I feel a little more up to that kind of a task.

Frankie D came for a visit after work today. It was good to see him. He brought me some things to occupy my time – like a couple of puzzles and the old classic book “Men are from Mars, Woman are from Venus”. It wasn’t until that book was sitting on my coffee table that I realized that it was written by a man… what’s a man know about a woman anyway? :-)

Cleaning out my mouth is tiring in and of itself – but I always feel so much better after I have cleaned it! My lips are chapped like crazy but thankfully I can’t feel it. If I could, I can’t imagine how bad it would hurt with all this skin just schleffing off of them.

I think that’s a pretty good recap of my super-duper exciting day. Tomorrow I have an appointment with Dr. D. We’ll see what he has to say about how I’m coming along. He’ll probably call me sweety a few times and tell me it all looks good. Then I’ll ask him why he did such a number on the right side of my face… we discussed my bite not being aligned exactly right yet – so maybe we’ll work on that tomorrow or Monday as well.

Onward and upward!

…for the record, I can’t imagine being in some kind of accident and then waking up like this with my jaw wired shut. It’s mentally taxing enough to do it all with a year’s notice – but to get slammed in the face and bam – you’re on a liquid diet and miserable? That would blow.

Day 1: Post Surgery

2012-02-01T15:21:00.000-05:00

As I left off of the last post – my night in the hospital was less than ideal. Being woken up several times, sore throat from the tube, no ice water, blah blah blah. I was updating Facebook, reading emails and such in the middle of the night. I think I ended up playing Words with Friends against my dad at 5am because I had given up on sleeping. I stopped asking for help to go to the restroom – I would just unplug my monitor and move on. I ended up just buying my time until The Mr. or Dr. D showed up.

The Mr. got to the hospital around 6:30am and Dr. D got there around 7am. I got a good check up from the Doc.

Sean, Jim, and Richard showed up around 8am. It was good to see them and very nice for them to stop by. Everyone said I looked pretty good. I guess I did – The Mr. helped me brush my hair, brush my teeth and wash my face before people showed up. Frankie D showed up shortly after Sean, Jim and Richard left. I enjoyed my breakfast of Muscle Milk and then some hospital food – chicken broth, bad coffee, and some more cherry jello. We waited around for a few hours and watched the Today show. I finally got my discharge paperwork around noon, while enjoying some more Muscle Milk. The lady said it would take 10-15 minutes or more for someone to come get me. No sooner did I have my clothes on and using the restroom was there someone there to pick me up in a wheel chair. That was the speediest service all day!

This was early in the morning – obviously still at the hospital.

Later in the afternoon/evening. Still puffy. Oh so hot, right?

I look a bit better without the ice on since it’s not adding 5 lb to my face.

I rested for most of the afternoon in the bed. Had a smoothie for the rest of my lunch and some banana pudding a little later one. You can see my coconut water in the background of the pictures too. Sometimes I just want water but I know I have to have something with some calories in it so I don’t wither away. I had a nice bath and felt like a million dollars afterwards.

I watched some TV and dozed off. People called and texted and such to check on me. It was all very nice and appreciated. I am doing well and still feeling good overall. It’s pretty difficult to eat – I get food all over my lips and such because I can’t feel them all the way (just partially). Eating is a lot of work and makes me tired. Dinner was some portabello mushroom bisque from Campbell’s – all blended up in the blender. It was pretty delicious and something that I will have to have again once I can chew up those delicious little mushrooms. Yum!

Surgery Day

2012-01-31T21:46:00.000-05:00

I didn’t take any photos of myself when I got to the hospital yesterday. I am pretty sure I looked a lot like I did on January 29 – except I don’t think my hair looked quite as styled.

I went back into the holding cell right around 8:30am and got changed into my awesome hospital gown that could be hooked up to like a vacuum cleaner attachment and you can control the temperature of the inside of your gown. It was bizarre. I opted for warm blankets, thank you very much.

I asked Dr. D if I was going to get double D’s – he said that they wouldn’t got below the clavicle. Fine. I got hooked up to the IVs, talked to the anesthesiologist, you know – the normal stuff. I don’t remember getting wheeled back into the OR or getting out of the OR. Apparently I was in Recovery for ~1 hour before I started to even wake up…and even then my eyesight was really, really blurry.

The Mr. got hourly updates from the OR but apparently the surgery didn’t take nearly as long as the surgeon's expected. They also felt like it went very well and was exactly what they expected.

I had to stay in Recovery for another half hour to get my pain managed – I think I told them I was a 5 our of 10 when I woke up. Most of my pain felt like it was in the jaw socket. Everything else felt like some pressure but it was mostly really tight in the socket. It was easily managed with the Percocet that the hospital provided. While I laid there, I got pretty hot – like sweaty hot. I was feeling nauseous and light headed so they took one set of blankets off of me. I couldn’t get to my room and into a lighter weight gown fast enough. I felt so much better after I got changed as you can see below.

Two thumbs up – I was feeling pretty okay at this point. Check out the hot hair! I was mostly happy to see familiar faces and get awake, have something to drink, and maybe take a nap. I got back into the room at 2pm.

Since I didn’t get back to my room until after lunch was brought around, I had to ask for something to eat around 4pm. I don’t think I even could feel how starving I really was. I had to stop eating at midnight the night before and I had my last meal at 8:30pm or so. The chicken broth that was brought to me was seriously the best tasting broth I’ve ever had. Dinner was brought around a little later. They were so kind to provide me with a popsicle that I couldn’t even fit into my mouth. I think I consumed something ridiculous like ~300-500 calories that day. That was not good. I think that’s in part where some of my nausea came from.

Dr. D stopped by my room around 8 or 9pm. I was fading in and out when he came by because I was tired. He said I looked good and went over some basics with me. All was good and The Mr. headed home for the night.

That one night in the hospital was seriously the longest night ever. I was so aggravated that night at midnight I was posting statuses to facebook. I was actually sound asleep when I got woken up at midnight. Seriously, all I wanted was a glass of water. Then I was awake and needed pain meds at 1:30. Awake again at 2:30. Awake again at 3:30. Awake again at 4:30, then 5, then 6… I hope that tonight is better but I’m not holding out a lot of hope or anything. The only difference is that I don’t have someone on the other end of a button to come to my beck and call.

Pre-Op Photos

2012-01-29T17:23:00.000-05:00

Part of me can’t believe that I am about to post these pictures on the world wide web – but I had told myself I would have full disclosure here for anyone this would help (even if that’s some of my relatives or children or friends of friends or total strangers).

First photo is a normal photo of me. I took these photos on January 29 – two days prior to surgery. This is where my jaw was “trained” to sit – so the bite and my face look pretty normal.

This is a photo of my actual bite – with my lower jaw set into the socket of my upper jaw. It’s difficult to smile in a position like this only because it’s not what I’m used to. You can tell a definite difference in my chin in this picture. It’s set back in my face.

This photo is the real story teller. You can see the lack of chin and how my front teeth sat on my bottom lip to push it out.

One Week Out

2012-01-23T21:03:00.001-05:00

If I were one to count down, I would be saying there are 7 real food chewing days left before I am introduced to a non-chewing diet. This should be interesting.

I have been trying to make the best of these last few weeks of “real food”. To the point that today I was craving a milkshake but decided to snack on some bread instead. Why? Because I’m going to be sucking every meal through a straw or off a spoon or however non-chew diets work for 6 weeks.

I do need to ask Dr. D about how exactly one transitions back to eating real food. I can’t imagine on day 42 he says “Alright, Michelle! Things look great! Have a hamburger or hot dog tonight! Maybe even eat some raw carrots and celery. Yum!”

I should just take it one step at a time – but I think about these things.

Since I am using this as a way to document all of my experiences with this whole surgery, I should also mention I had my pre-assessment at The Saint today. All was well. I think the nurse (Mrs. Butts – I can’t make this stuff up) now knows me better than any of my friends. One of the questions was the height of the steps in my house… weird. She swore it had something to do with orthopedic surgeries. Riiiight. Anyway – I am almost surprised they didn’t ask for our gross family income or something. I think some of the questions were related to the government and Mr. Presidente getting all up in our bees-wax.

Of course I couldn’t leave there without meeting with the financial lady. When I got dressed this morning I mentally went through about 5 outfits before landing on the one I finally wore. There were two factors that kept me changing my mind: (1) it was windy, chilly and rainy and (2) I had to talk to the finance lady and I wanted to see what all of my options were before she forced me to throw a credit card down on the table to pay in full. We discussed all of my options (well, all TWO of them…pay in full and get an extra 10% discount or pay half and only get the original 75% discount).

Yeah. Seventy-five percent discount because I was considered “self-pay”. I get excited when I get a pair of pants or a sweater for 75-85% off. I am trying to figure out how come I didn’t have the same level of excitement when I was told about this discount. I mean, it’s like this surgery is on the clearance rack! Let’s look at it like that… you know, it’s so cheap, I couldn’t just leave it on the shelf!

The Mr. is going to be my nurse. We have moved a mini-fridge upstairs for my convenience during the first few days at least. I also get upgraded to the side of the bed closest to the bathroom. It’s the little things, ya know? He’s going to be working on his mad Call of Duty skillz during my naps and general drooling time. (I felt the need to note this so that maybe I’ll remember to follow up on how this has really played out…)

As my entertainment, today I bought a 2000 piece puzzle and a 750 piece puzzle. I also have a goal of finishing my cross-stitching that I started early in college (like circa 2004…yeah, that long ago!). So I will rest my weary jaw bone and try to accomplish some goals all at the same time. Kill all the birds with one massive couch sitting rock. That’s me.

I need to take and post some “before” shots so that perhaps we’ll see the difference on here.

In hindsight...

2012-01-22T21:10:00.001-05:00

My last post should have more appropriately said something along the lines of “My teeth gleamin’ like I’m chewing on aluminum foil.”

And my orthodontist should have a sign that says: “Call me George Forman, ‘cause I’m selling everybody grillz.”

Oh, Nelly. You are so poetic.

Robbed the jewelry store...

2012-01-16T22:07:00.001-05:00

…and told them to make me a grill! If you thought my last grill was sweet – this grill is sah-weet!

Actually, it’s essentially the same grill – just with some new hardware.

I got the surgical hooks put on my wires today. Look how excited I am… The hooks really aren’t too bad. They feel cumbersome in my mouth and the bottom row is rubbing the inside of my lip – but that is to be expected. It took a little while to get them in because they had to place them individually, then put the wire in and look at it…take it out, and then wash, rinse, repeat.

I know the hooks aren’t so obvious to most people – but I feel like they are screaming “look at me!!”

I was told that these come off as soon as the oral surgeon releases me back to the orthodontist to finish his work. That’s about the 6 week mark when the surgeon (hopefully) gives me a clean bill of health. That’s also the day that I get told that I can eat things like hamburgers and steaks and pork chops and anything that requires chewing again. Yay!

…I am on the schedule

2012-01-13T21:29:00.001-05:00

…at “The Saint”, as my oral surgeon calls the hospital that I am going to be at.

I mentioned back in April that I had gotten braces to align my teeth for jaw surgery. I wish I had written more about some of my crazy orthodontic appointments.

You know, like the time I had to lay out a schedule for my orthodontist to show him that if we didn’t do some cutting in January then we wouldn’t be cutting until April (because of my old man’s work travel schedule). He wasn’t a fan of having to come take care of me while Mr. Dr was out of town… and I wasn’t a fan of waiting until April since we had been discussing January 2012 since January 2011. But it’s okay. His thing is teeth…I guess my thing is being organized, scheduled and prompt. I think he could use someone like me in his office – although the medical world and their sluggish nature would just grate on every single on of my nerves.

At any rate…I mentioned in that post that I would document the experience. I didn’t document a whole lot up until this point. It’s pretty uneventful. If you’ve had braces – you’ve lived my last 12 months..except when you’re on the docket for surgery you get impressions done every other time you go once you get close to surgery time. I had three sets made with one more happening before surgery. Probably one shortly after surgery and then obviously a final one (at a minimum) for retainers.

FAQ’s:

(1) Will your jaw be wired shut?? I bet your husband will be happy about that!
Nope. They will wire me closed during the surgery to make sure that they get “perfect” alignment, but I will be cut free before I wake up. There will be rubber bands in my mouth to guide my jaw in my new bite. I’m not sure how tight these rubber bands are going to be – but I have a feeling they are going to be tight. Apparently if one breaks, I have to take the other off and then go to the office to be put back on.

(2) ZOMG, you are going to wither away. What are you going to eat???
ZOMG! I be on a “non-chewing” diet for 6 weeks. That’s vague as ever, right? Basically it means that my teeth cannot come in contact with each other for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, I suppose I’ll have to take them out for a nice dinner and reintroduce them, otherwise it could get awkward. Diet could (and may) include things like scrambled eggs, oatmeal, smoothies, mashed potatoes, apple sauce, pudding, jello, ice cream, etc etc. The diet WILL NOT include hamburgers, steak, corn on the cob… so don’t bring them buy for me.

(3) I bet that’s going to be really, really, really painful! I feel for you.
Well, apparently your lower jaw is numb for the 6 weeks or so. Or at least that’s what I’m told. To me that says “cake walk” in the pain department – maybe some Aleve or Tylenol or something. I brought this up with the oral surgeon – he said those weren’t strong enough pain meds. So this stuff must be something fierce if numbness can’t hold it back. We’ll see – I’ll have to come back and report on that.

(4) How long are you going to be out of work? What’s your schedule??
Schedule:
Jan 16 –Surgical Hooks (I am sure they are as pleasant as they sound)
Jan 23 – Pre-assessment at the hospital + write “The Saint” a big fat check
Jan 24 – Pre-op with the surgeons – Dr. D and his Enforcer. I hope I can get a picture of these guys. Apparently they are the best and come highly recommended…and they are funny. Win-Win.
Jan 31 – D-Day. Let’s get this girl a new grill. Maybe some D cups while I’m under, too??

I will be out of work for at least 2 weeks…maybe 3-4 weeks. But at least 2 full weeks. Raise your hand if you want to come kick it with me while I’m out… We can watch Dr. Oz and other non-food related shows.

2012: To resolve or not to resolve

2012-01-07T16:47:00.001-05:00

That’s the question on most people’s minds right now right?

First of all – how tired are you of reading about what people’s New Year Resolutions are? I’m sure your blog feed is FULL of them all and you probably clicked “Mark All As Read” :-)

At any rate, feel free to click “read” if you so desire.

I’m not completely sure if I want to set a baseline of resolutions for 2012. I have no idea where this year is going to take me. At the beginning of 2011 I knew I wanted to lose a few more pounds, start running, take & pass the PE…

This year? I have no idea what I am doing post-January. Heck – I’m not even sure what January holds for me.

I have seen around blog land some folks who do monthly goals. I think for a while I am going to try this monthly goal thing. (I will probably have to set a reminder on my phone so I don’t forget about setting my monthly goals… how sad is that?!)

January Goals

1. Jaw surgery. Get it done. Survive it. Keep eating enough calories when I am only able to consume liquids… so I don’t look like skeletore. Yeah, let’s get that done. :-)
2. Run the Greenville News 5k on January 21. This depends on the un-scheduled surgery date that I am *patiently* waiting to be scheduled…
3. Finish 3 books. Should be easy if I’m laid up on the couch, right? :-)

Anyone have any good suggestions for me? What should my 2012 goals be?

Windows Live Writer

2012-01-06T15:02:00.001-05:00

I am giving Windows Live Writer a whirl for my blogger. The blogger format essentially makes me want to pull my hair out…not to mention the fight I have every time I want to upload pictures or make a list or change the font. You have to go start messing with the html settings. When I want to blog or write, I just want to type as fast as I can think and be done with it. Frankly, I don’t often proofread my posts either – which is one reason why I could never be a blogger for a living. Sometimes my posts are all stream of consciousness and I like it like that.

I heard about Windows Live Writer through a blog that I regularly follow because I love her house. Centsational Girl is a great website and she shared her blogging secret way back in September 2011. I bookmarked it then (since I was hard and heavy studying) and swore I would come back to it. New year, new leaf, more blogging? (maybe).

So here I am – giving the new program a go. So far, I am in absolutely love!

I am off for a run because the weather is beautiful outside. Hopefully this program will get me more into putting my thoughts down so that I can have something to come back and look at some day.

How Did I Win the Weight Loss Journey?

2011-12-27T12:05:00.000-05:00

First of all, please ignore my absence - I can't ever promise regular blogging. Also, please excuse my bad pictures. :)

I have had several people ask me a lot of questions about losing weight. A lot of them fall into some semblance of:
(1) How'd you do it???
(2) What? Did you stop eating?
(3) So,are you hungry all the time?

The answer to these is:
(1) Hard work
(2) No
(3) No

I have spent a lot of time and energy changing my diet (in the terms of nutrition, not weight loss fad) and changing my lifestyle.

One of the things that helped me a lot was getting familiar with portions and making those portions SUPER easy to measure out for breakfast and lunch at work. The little container below is 1 cup. Most cereals are a 1 cup serving (except the one below, which is 3/4 cup - but usually I eat a cup and adjust the calories accordingly). This is part of my breakfast. The other part is normally a piece of fruit and a cup of coffee - with a splash of cream and Splenda.

Minnie Mouse Ideas

2011-10-15T17:33:00.000-04:00

My niece may be having a Minnie Mouse birthday party in January. I was looking at some ideas to help out my sister and just thought I would collect them all here. :)

here

cute

Mondays...

2011-06-20T09:08:00.000-04:00

These conversations on a Monday morning shouldn't annoy me, but they do...

Guy: "Did you make the copies of those packages that I asked you to copy Friday afternoon?"
Me: "Nooooo, I can go get someone to copy them for you. It wasn't one of my priorities."
Guy: "Oh, okay. Do you think you can do that by tomorrow?"
{Mind you - this guy has already asked me to do about 10 other things "by tomorrow" and he's not my boss}
Me: "I will ask her if she can do it by tomorrow."
Guy: "Did you work this weekend?"
Me: "No, I studied all weekend."
Guy: "Oh, did you hang out and just chill and do a little bit of studying?"
Me: "No, I studied ALL weekend."
Guy: "So you like started at 8 in the morning and studied all day?"
Me: "Well, I started at like 11am and studied until about 6pm on Saturday and on Sunday..."
Guy: "Oh so you like studied a lot. You studied all weekend."

I mean, WTF? How hard is that to comprehend?

Sunday is a Run-Day

2011-05-15T12:58:00.000-04:00

At least while I am out of town it is... Sunday mornings are the only time that I have been able to say "Hey, I'm coming in to work late because I'm going for a long run."

The construction guys all think I'm "sleeping in" because I partied too much the night before... but they are staying in the same town I am staying in and I'm still not sure where these "parties" are happening on Saturday nights...

I am also slowly, but surely, trying to complete the 5K 101 training program. I only started it in January.

Anyhow - there is a neighborhood behind my apartment complex and IT.IS.HILLY. Wow, it's got some serious hills! I have been running the "Run 8, Walk 2" sequence from the 5K 101 program.

Today after running 8 minutes, I decided I felt pretty good (even with all of the hills) so I kept on trucking. I did the "Run 12, Walk 3" sequence today. It felt good and I repeated it 4 times for a total of an hour run. Overall the run felt pretty good considering the amount of hills that I had to slowly ascend. My legs were on fire! There are a couple of just really long hills that kick my behind every time. I need to improve my endurance for the "ups and downs" of the hills but I am getting better.

People have been asking me how far I have been running but I honestly didn't really know. Today I decided to stick to a loop route and then map my run when I got back to the apartment. I ended up running/walking a total of 5.25 miles today. That is pretty awesome for me! It was a little slow because it took me 70 minutes to do it all. I walked for the last 10 minutes of the run. So that ends up being just over a 13 minute/mile.

Slow? Yes. But that's okay. I'm not out there trying to win any races - I am just trying to be healthy!

John 15

2011-04-26T21:48:00.000-04:00

I am the vine, you are the branches: He that stays in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. John 15:1-5

God never gives you more than you can handle, right? Right.

The Grill

2011-04-24T14:04:00.000-04:00

I started this post about 4 months ago. Now that I've typed this, I can't believe it's been 4 months. Time flies when you're having fun - right?! ....right.

I got a new grill. Check it out.

Hotness, right? Total hotness.

I've been told on several occasions that I look younger.

I'm not sure if that means I look like a baby or if I looked "old" without them. Whatevs.

You might be wondering why I have braces (again) because I had them for seven years when I was younger. I could break out in hives thinking about it. This whole road began when I asked for some Invisiline to fix my bottom teeth that were shifting...and then it went from that to meeting with an oral surgeon. Crap.

So long story short, I have braces to realign my teeth and then I will have jaw surgery to fix my overbite. It will be total hotness once I get my teeth & overbite fixed. The timeline I was given was surgery 12-15 months after beginning braces. I've been in braces for 4 months - so that puts us at 8-11 months. My schedule is 8 months at the latest. I have my third appointment next Monday... I will be making sure that my orthodontist and I are on the same schedule. I think my schedule is more aggressive than his...

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous...

And if I can get my act together, maybe I'll blog about it along the way.

two thousand & eleven

2011-01-02T17:24:00.000-05:00

It's been quiet on the blog front for just over two months now. It was a much needed break to stop focusing on what I was going to write next or what new exciting, awesome thing I'd tell you about next (and let me tell you - my life and it's on goings are not that exciting). So for the past two months you basically missed: me working a lot of hours, eating a lot of turkey, opening Christmas presents, drinking a lot of good wine, and celebrating with friends and family. That's the catch up.

Now onto the new year! A couple of days late! I think that's my new mantra. Better late than never?

Follow up on 2010 Resolutions:
1. Lose the last 5 lb. I did that and it felt good. I'd like to lose some more or just tone up more. I'm not going to kill myself over it but I need to get my food intake back to being healthy and fulfilling. That's partly why we started cooking our way through Ellie Krieger's cook books. That's still on going but finding time to meal plan on the weekends has been a little tougher.

2. Run a 5k. Uh, yeah - that didn't happen. Maybe in 2011?

3. Cross more things off my 101 in 1001 list. This did happen and I need to do a follow up post on it. We'll get there eventually. :)

2011 Resolutions:
1. There's a list of organizational/decluttering/stop-making-me crazy things on my list. Things like clean out the guest bedroom closets, sell a bunch of stuff on Craigslist or take it to Habitat (just get it out of my house!)
2. Begin and complete the Couch to 5k program
3. Cook more, plan more, and overall, enjoy more. :)

Meal Planning & my girl, Ellie

2010-10-17T19:43:00.000-04:00

Hi.
I know, I know. I've been busy. Work has been crazy. And frankly there hasn't been anything that exciting to talk about. I have a few things up my sleeve now though - let's just hope I actually sit down and put the proverbial pen to paper if you will.

The Mr. has suggested several times that I talk about our meal plans, what we liked, didn't like, what we'd change, etc. We've made it one of our goals to essentially cook our way through the Ellie Krieger cookbooks. To date, we haven't found a recipe of hers that we did not like...which is a pretty exciting accomplishment really.

I'll document our journey as best as I can and link you up to the recipes that she has available online through Food Network. The ones that aren't available - I'll give you a general idea of what's in them but I feel bad about sharing the entire recipe... it is her livelihood and all (even though I'm sure she's filthy rich). I'd be mad if someone was just freely handing out my recipes on the internetz - so I'll respect that fact. I'll also mention things that we're going to try or would change just a hair.

Here's what we're looking at for this week:
Saturday: Oven-Fried Chicken (tenders) & Garlic Fries
Sunday: Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes & Feta (over rice)
Monday: Chicken-Mushroom Quesadilla
Tuesday: leftovers/cereal/ fend for yourself
Wednesday: Steak Sandwiches**
Thursday: The Mr. has class... so leftovers. And wine (for me). :)

If you're curious about Ellie Krieger's books - Saturday & Sunday recipes are from her book "The Food You Crave". Monday's recipes is from "So Easy"

**This is a recipe straight from The Mr.'s head. We couldn't help ourselves...Bi-Lo had a great deal on their "Buy 5 for $20". You could get NY Strips, Pork Sirloins, ground turkey breast. ZOMG. We stocked up because those are all things we eat often...

Happy Eating!! I'll review these recipes soon (I hope)!

Friday Fives...

2010-09-10T09:10:00.001-04:00

I just came across this blog through someone else on my Google Reader. Every week she does a "Friday Fives" and this week the topic is September 11th. It's a sensitive subject for some. I honestly believe it defines our generation just like the death of JFK defined some, or Marilyn Monroe, or Elvis...

What are 5 things that you remember about that day nine years ago?

5 Things I Remember:

1. Staring in disbelief that the first building was on fire. That a plane really did fly into the World Trade Center.

2. Suddenly someone saying:

"Was that just another plane? Or did they just replay the clip again??"

It was definitely the second plane.

Talk about feeling like you got punched in the gut - and I didn't even know anyone in New York (much less the World Trade Center). I can't imagine how it felt to know someone you loved was in one of those buildings.

3. Watching the buildings collapse because the steel could no longer sustain the weight of the building.

It just crumble like someone had planned to demo the building.

Did these terrorists know the buildings would collapse?

Did they realize there would be this much destruction?

4. My friends and I were seniors in high school. Starting our year, turning 18, and wondering what this would mean for us.

Is our country going to war?

Would there be another draft?

Would we have to go to war?

Our generation had only heard about wars. We weren't IN wars.

(Some of my friends were brave enough join the military and spend time overseas protecting our freedom).

5. The patriotism and bond that Americans felt after that day.

Although, a little short lived, it seems, for several months we all felt like "one".

We were proud to be Americans. And we weren't going to back down.

Monday Morning Banter

2010-08-16T10:11:00.002-04:00

I have a few random things of note for this overcast, ice cold office, Monday morning.

Coming back from vacation was hard. So hard in fact, I forgot to set my alarm this morning. Good thing The Mr. had his set. We would've been in for a world of hurt.
Today was the first day of school here. For the past three years, one of us has said to the other on this day "OMG! (the letters, not the words -you know, all Valley Girl High Schooler like) Are you excited about the first day of school?!?!" And the other says "No. Not really. Parking at the stop sign, way too much traffic, people driving under the speed limit because they don't know where to go.... ugh"
Speaking of people not driving the speed limit: it did happen this morning. It is NOT 30 mph or 35 mph. It is 45 mph. The gas is on the right.
I left the house early enough today to avoid the Stop Sign Parkers. Apparently, even though it is against the law and people don't consider how dangerous it is for cars to be passing them at a stop sign, to make a left in the neighborhood, AT THE BUS STOP where other people's children are CROSSING THE ROAD - our stupid neighbors do it anyway. It makes my blood boil. The first person who does it this year is going to get an earful from me because I'm just not going to take it anymore. I'm sorry your child can't walk AT MOST 3/4 of a mile to the bus stop, ON THE SIDEWALK, in the NEIGHBORHOOD. I know it gets cold outside. And I know it's going to get dark outside when the bus comes. I know, I know, I know. But for pete's sake!
I've got a lot of stuff on my plate at work. I'm going to be up to my eyeballs until the beginning of September... Labor Day, here I come!!

Wait a minute...

2010-08-02T20:49:00.004-04:00

Where did August come from? Holy macaroni.

Since I was too busy to post in July - let's talk about the things I loved in July:

1. A clean home. I don't have any pictures - but life from the floors and kitchen projects finally came back to normal. Well, forced back to normal since we had a 4th of July party at the house.

2. Fireworks!

3. My niece got baptized the second weekend in July. She was such a good baby and too cute! I really enjoyed heading home to spend time with the whole family. It was a much needed weekend away.

4. Furniture Finishing... I have finally gotten all of the unfinished furniture that keeps showing up at our house finished. Well, kind of finished. I don't have pictures - but I finished some cubbies for the craft room, bookcase for all of our books, and the chair that we've had since we moved into the house 2 years ago. It was a long process - but I'm glad I'm done with all of that. The "kind of" part comes in because the two stools we purchased for the kitchen still aren't finished but that's only because I found two stools that not only LOOK exactly the same - but the stickers on the underside listing the maker are exactly the same. The difference? The ones I found were already stained and only cost $30/each. The Mr. and and both agreed it was well worth the money. So much so, that The Mr. took me back to the store to get the second stool!

5. Jewelry, jewelry, jewelry! I went to 2 jewelry parties in one weekend. Now I am having my own jewelry party in September. I am looking forward to getting my jewelry from those parties and having the ladies over for a fun night of trying on jewelry, eating snacks, and having some drinks! This is one of the pieces I am anxiously awaiting to arrive!

The Big Reveal

2010-07-04T16:10:00.002-04:00

I know you've been waiting with baited breath for these pictures. Right?

It's not totally complete yet - but it's almost there. I have been waiting patiently for the kitchen to be clean and put back together to get pictures.

Let's look at the before kitchen one more time. Notice the empty wall and the awkwardly placed island. The black range which opened right up to the only real prep space in the kitchen. Lastly - note the old floors.

After a couple of months of very hard work, here we are today:

We removed the awkward island, turned it to face the family room, and made it bigger. We also added more cabinets along the empty wall for more storage. Changing the island also gave us a good place for a little bar/sitting area. Our friends come over and have a perfect spot to sit and chat with us while we finish up cooking.

With all of that cooking going on, we decided to get a single bowl, deep sink. It's been a dream so far - no complaints. Oh - and double ovens. So awesome. We had multiple people say that we'd only ever use the double oven a few times per year. We've had them installed for 2 months and we've used both at the same time at least 3 or 4 times. Not on purpose either.

Since there was a fair amount of rearranging going on, we also got new counter tops. Choosing a counter top type and then choosing a color was probably the hardest part of this whole ordeal. We knew we wanted a solid surface counter so we could have an undermount sink. That's about as far as our "needs" list went. Originally we looked at granite but just couldn't decide on a color. Plus there was the concern of having several different slabs in the kitchen and it not be cohesive. After a lot of trips to different stores/shops we finally landed on Silestone as the material. It wasn't a hard sell to get the color, which is Bamboo. This is one of the items in the kitchen that I just held my breath and said "Let's go for it." not totally sure how it would turn out.

So, what do you think? Love it or hate it?

happy birthday, america.

2010-07-04T07:22:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, America.
Remember - freedom is never free.
Happy 4th of July, ya'll!

Fabulous Fabric

2010-07-01T08:36:00.002-04:00

Do you remember this post? Where I asked for help on finding good - but inexpensive - fabric?

Well, I did. I found it about 2 months ago - and I'm just now getting around to telling you about it.

Clemson Girl told me about this fabric store that is about an hour from my house. It is a mecca of cheaply priced fabric. It is so awesome.

Here's what I came up with for making my own roman shade for the back door. I liked the geometrics of the fabric below, the colors were pretty neutral for the yellow-orange paint on the wall. The only problem with it is that it's not quite long enough to do the whole window. I need to find a solid color to go at the top and bottom of the shade - and then I'll be all set.

What do you think? What color should I get for the top/bottom of the shade to sew it all together?

While I was in this fabric mecca, I found some other fabric that I picked up and just couldn't put back down. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it (yet). But I am bound and determined to figure something out!
Suggestions??

Look at that - $7.50 for 1.5 yards of embroidered fabric? You can't beat that.

Parent/Child Dance

2010-06-16T10:17:00.004-04:00

For commemorative reasons and the fact that no less than 5 people have asked me what song I danced to with my dad at my wedding... I'm going to blog about it.

The first time someone asked, I told them it was by some oldies guy that I had never heard of - but the song was good and appropriate for both the father/daughter & mother/son dance.
{Since we combined them all into one song - inspired by my genius sister} We did this for several reasons {both her & I} - (1) our dad doesn't exactly love to dance; (2) our husbands don't exactly love to dance either. We like to keep the men in our lives happy...so one song, combo style. Danced with dad and dad-inlaw...he danced with mom and mom-in-law. Everyone's happy. Keep the drinks flowing.

As more people have asked about the song - it's taken considerable less time googling around to find it again. I now consistently remember the artist (but not the song name). But here it is as a package deal:

Paul Anka's "Times of Your Life"

2 Years & Still Laughing

2010-06-14T09:10:00.002-04:00

We still laugh every day.
We kiss goodnight, every night.
We love each other like we said "I Do" yesterday.

Happy Anniversary, Old Man.
:)

Bottles & Bottles

2010-06-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

I really like the pictures on the top right shelf and second level left shelf. Those bottles are pretty cool - but the price tag was not so cool.

Anyone know anyone who could recreate this in a photograph or painting or something? Something similar - since I'd want different colors to go in my kitchen. :)

Paso Robles

2010-05-23T21:38:00.006-04:00

I'm going to ignore the "big white elephant" in the room and not make any excuses for not updating for, well, almost a month.

Instead - we're going to talk about something that is both delicious AND awesome: WINE. :)

While in California, there was an open weekend that we could either go home (um, no thanks - not flying 'cross country for two days just to come back thankyouverymuch) or stay. I stayed - and went to Paso Robles - wine country.

Is it Napa Valley or Sonoma? No.
Was it gorgeous with some delicious wine? Oh yeah.

I also did a little wine tour into the wine cellars at the Robert Hall Winery. It was interesting to see their "caves" and their stores of wine. The tour guide talked about some interesting things - but I was only half listening.

As the man swiped my card for my wine purchase there at the Robert Hall winery - he shared with me that "Oh hey - we ship wine to where you live!" grrreat. I bet I could get this mess at Total Wine for cheaper.

Oh well, the experience, right?

All about the experience.

Today's Tidbits ...

2010-04-30T00:23:00.003-04:00

...from ~~sunny~~ windy California.

First:
The weather here can't make up it's mind. Blistering on Monday and constant winds since then. And I mean constant. All in the double digit mph. I need someone to build me a hut out there in the wide open spaces. More wind tomorrow... might make me want to throw my papers in the air and go sit in the car.

Second:
Some guy in the hot tub tonight asked where I was from...and when I told him SC, he said "You sound like it." He's apparently never met anyone else from SC, especially my friend Trent who has a southern drawl like you wouldn't believe. Trent also believed that "might as well" (pronounced 'mis-well') was one word. He's southern. Almost hick. (But I still reign supreme on being more country than he is...he said so himself.)

And then hot tub guy tried to convince me the biscuits and gravy at the hotel are good - there's not even sausage in the gravy! It should be a cardinal sin to not have sausage in your white gravy. He said "But there are little sausage patties on the breakfast bar." WTF, man - it is NOT the same. These people have no idea what they are missing!

Third:
Another woman in the hot tub said she's from Mexico and has lived here 2 years. She was telling me she doesn't vote because "It doesn't count." Well, if I had to guess - it doesn't count for you since the chances of you being a citizen are like 20%. Just sayin'.

I'm sure I'll have some more brilliance tomorrow.

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A Few Lessons...

2010-04-22T07:53:00.002-04:00

I have learned a few lessons while having the floors installed...

1. Removing laminate flooring is easy. Removing the underlayment UNDER the laminate flooring is a real pain. The Mr. has some cuts and bruises to prove that.

2. According to the floorers, it is standard to put at least 300 staples per sheet of underlayment. We were under the impression that had to pull each and every one of them out of the floor. After we were half way done we found out we could hammer them down. D'oh!

3. Toilets are really, really heavy. Like, really heavy.

4. It takes a lot longer to paint baseboards than I ever thought it would.

5. It also takes a lot longer to paint stair facing than I ever though it would. (think an entire day from start to finish to sand, putty holes, tape, prime and paint.)

6. I am really glad that I didn't paint the walls before they installed the floor since they left several black marks, dings, and scraps on the walls.

7. If you thought your house was dirty and dusty from ripping all your flooring out...wait until the floors are installed. Ours were prefinished - and the layer of dust (and pollen from the door being left open all day) was quite disgusting.

8. Habitat for Humanity's Resale store apparently only takes "new" carpet even though their website says "new and gently used". Sorry for wanting to donate something to you to help you out...but now I'm going to just throw it in the trash can. Stupid.

I am sure I had more gems that came to me while I spent days sliding across the floor painting baseboards. It's unfortunate I didn't have a method of recording them while I was on the floor.

Speaking of floors - they were really hard and my butt hurt for days from sitting on the floor for almost 2 days straight. Whew. I felt like I got my butt kicked all over town.

The Floors: (almost) Finished Product

2010-04-19T21:29:00.003-04:00

The flooring guys finished up on Friday afternoon around 4pm.

Why didn't I post pictures before now? Oh, because we've made approximately six trips to Home Depot for various items, caulked the baseboards and shoe, filled the nail holes with wood putty, painted half the base board in the house, painted the stair facings, painted the stair trim, and finally went to a frat function on Saturday night (not a kegger...but an actual, like, function). haha.

We were busy! I hardly came up for air (or the internets for that matter)

Let's just say that sitting on wood floors for almost two days straight makes your booty hurt.

So here's what it looks like after everything was in, but before we got started painting. I will wait to share total "after" pictures with you once the house is put back together again!

{I am easily pleased - this fireplace detail is one of my favorite parts!}

What do you think? What kind of flooring do you prefer in a home?

Floors - Day 1

2010-04-15T10:30:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day that we had people here to install our floors. Things went really well and they got a good bit done - considering they were just getting started and such. We are extremely happy with how they are coming together.

We chose Brazilian Koa 5" planks from Lumber Liquidators. The thing we liked about them the most was the variations in the pieces of wood. Some people love that (us) and some people want a uniform look throughout the space. I think both look fabulous - but this wood just tugged on my heart strings... you know, the way home improvement items do.

Here are some shots from the end of the day...

Check back tomorrow - we'll have 4 guys in the house nailing away!

"working" from home

2010-04-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

I am working from home today. I did all of my real work yesterday - so today I am working on the list of things I need to turn out for my side biz... stay tuned for the reveal of my crafting blog.

I'll be working from this cozy nook today while enjoying my yogurt!

The Silence is Over

2010-04-14T17:20:00.004-04:00

It's over for now, anyway.

I thought I'd show you what has been going on around here lately to explain the reason why I haven't been so chatty.

Drawn your attention down in these pictures...

We pulled up all of our old carpet and linoleum. Pulled up the underlayment (under the linoleum). Pulled up 65% of the staples until we found out that we could hammer them down (d'oh!) and then we pulled the baseboards out, bottom cabinets, stove, dishwasher, and all of the furniture.

Tonight is the first night that we didn't have anything to do when we got home from work. Actually - I didn't go to work since I was here all day with the flooring people.

So definitely stay tuned - because they made some progress today and it looks great!

Geez, louise.

2010-04-09T10:42:00.002-04:00

It's been almost two weeks since I last updated. I hadn't realized that it had been that long.

My apologies - but life + work + the beautiful weather has kept me out of pocket.

I have tons of pictures I need to pull of my camera and upload...so hopefully I'll make some headway on that this weekend.

This afternoon I'm heading over to a fabric store that I've heard about through the grapevine. This place is supposed to be some sort of mecca - so I am going to make the hour trek out there and see what it's all about. It apparently only opens once a month - so I've got to make it a priority this weekend. If I don't go this weekend I can't go for another month. Yikes!

Also on the docket for the weekend is a beer tasting festival called Top of the Hops here in town. Hopefully it's not incredibly crowded (which it might be) but if it is crowded hopefully the beer making the ridiculous crowd more tolerable. :) At least that is the plan.

Stay tuned. I hope to get those pictures off cameras and into blogs this weekend!

PSA: Muscle vs. Fat

2010-03-29T08:39:00.005-04:00

I feel like I'm doing a disservice to all of humanity if I don't address this "myth". I use quotation marks because it's not really a myth - just a misunderstanding or misconception.

Statement: Muscle weighs more than fat. FALSE!

Okay, here's the skinny. First, we need a few definitions to establish our baseline understanding.

Weight: (n) (1) A measure of the heaviness of an object. (2) the force in which an object is pulled towards the earth - therefore the product of the objects mass and acceleration of gravity. (mass x 32.174 ft/s^2) {sidenote: my physics professor used to always say "That is NOT seconds squared. That is feet per second per second." LOL so it's a velocity per second... hmmm}

Mass: (n) A property of matter equal to the measure of an object's resistance to changes in either the speed or direction of its motion. The mass of an object is not dependent on gravity and therefore is different from but proportional to its weight. {This is the physics definition. There are several others, including "The sacrament of the Eucharist"}

So, since mass has no dependence on gravitational forces - your mass stays the same whether you're on Earth or the moon or Jupiter. Your weight, on the other hand, will vary greatly due to the differences in gravitational forces on those planets.

Some of the confusion between "mass" and "weight" comes in because "MrsB - they have the same units of measure! So why aren't they the same?!" Well, technically speaking - the units of measure are NOT the same but Americans are lazy. There is a difference between a "POUND FORCE" (lb-f) and a "POUND MASS" (lb-m). (The "f" and "m" are usually subscripts). What's the difference? Gravity.

Here's where the rub gets even better - due to the definition of gravity on Earth and the way these constants were set up - when you take your weight {on Earth AT sea level} and convert it to your mass {on Earth AT seal level} - they will be equal.

Us lazy engineers would say "You multiply your weight by "g over g sub c". In other words, you multiply your weight by the gravitational pull of the planet you are on divided by gravitational constant (32.174 [(lb-m*ft)/s^2]/lb-f). So everything cancels out and you are multiplying by "1".

Still with me? Hope so. Here's where the good information comes in.

Density: The measure of how much MASS per unit volume. So simply put - if mass is how much "stuff" there is, density is how tightly packed that "stuff" is.

Density is the reason that muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. Muscle does NOT have more mass than fat either. Muscle is more tightly packed than fat - therefore it is more dense - therefore it takes up less SPACE.

Here's my best example: You have 5 pounds of feathers and you have a 5 pound bowling ball. If you put them both on a scale - how much will each one weight? Right - they will both WEIGH 5 pounds. BUT the bowling ball takes up less space (or volume) than the feathers. Sure, you could jam all the feathers into a box and they will take up less space than a pile of feathers...but then the 5 pounds of feathers became more dense.

So if you're telling yourself that the number on the scale keeps going up because muscle weighs more than fat - then you are lying to yourself. If you are like "But my clothes are so big and the scale hasn't budged!" - then you are probably putting on muscle and burning the fat off.

If the scale is going up and you're doing all the right things - you could be in the middle ground. Sometimes you put on a little bit of muscle underneath your layer of fat and then you're still working on burning off that fat. The muscle helps your metabolism and helps you burn that stored fat...so keep building muscles!

Clear as mud? :) If you're still confused - please feel free to ask questions. I will do my best to answer them. :)

Weekend In Review

2010-03-22T08:39:00.003-04:00

Well, let's recap the weekend...because I'm confident I didn't get all this done as planned.

Friday

1. ~~Errands: Target, AC Moore, bank, Sherwin Williams, grocery store~~ completed!
2. ~~Pull up linoleum in the morning room to prep for new flooring.~~ completed! {more on this later...}
3. Gym? ...didn't happen. Lost track of time while pulling staples out of the floor.
4.~~Do something outside. Anything.~~ sat on the patio in the evening
5. Clean the house. I have decided that cleaning the house is going to be temporarily disbanded until the construction (or de-construction as it may be) is finished. I'd be dusting all.day.long.

Saturday
I'm not even going to go through this list individually. Why? Because the only two things that happened were laundry and ironing. And ironing didn't happen until Sunday. We spent 90% of the day pulling up underlayment (the Mr.) or prying staples out of the floor. When I wasn't pulling staples, I was sitting on the patio in the sun relaxing or straightening the kitchen and such.

1. Go on a picnic with The Mr. {perfect weather}
2. Get the last pictures for our "name frame"
3. Order said pictures.
4. Spread mulch?
5. Laundry.
6. Iron clothes {because I won't have time on Sunday}

Sunday - And none of this happened.

1. Tape master bath for painting.
2. Paint master bath
3. KKPsi meeting?

Pulling up the linoleum was fast. The Mr. had a time pulling up the underlayment because of the ridiculous amounts of staples used to fasten it to the subfloor. And I mean ri.dic.u.lous. At the edges of the board there were at least 2-3 staples per inch. They just went crazy with the automatic stapler. So pulling staples up was my job. One by one I muscled those things out of floor. It took me probably 8 hours total (spread over 3 days) to do the morning room. The foyer won't be so bad. The kitchen? Could potentially be the end of me. We haven't pulled up the linoleum in there yet to see the damage.

I haven't started pulling staples in the foyer yet. Why? Oh, because we found MOLD between the underlayment and the subfloor at the threshold of the front door. Nice, black, mold. It wasn't just a little bit like we found at the backdoor in the morning room. There was little enough there for us to just clean it up with bleach and feel okay about it. We feel like it is probably due to the floor being laid while the subfloor was still wet or damp. If there were a leak issue with the front door then it would most likely be showing signs of rot since we're working on two years in the home and we've had A LOT of rain this year. To be safe (and not sorry) we are calling the builder today. Hopefully someone will at least come out to look at it...even if they offer no help in fixing it.

So that is why I didn't get my whole list done. :)

I did buy the paint for the master bath this weekend though since there was the Sherwin Williams sale going on. When the hardwoods get installed, the Mr. and I will probably alternate on taking time off work to be home. If I don't have any work to do from home, I will probably take that opportunity to paint the bathroom. I'll be essentially confined to the upstairs anyway - so why not just paint then?

I'll keep you posted on the mold issue...

Mental "To Do" List

2010-03-19T10:41:00.003-04:00

There are a lot of things floating around in my head that I need to get done. I keep making lists and checking them twice - but then I decide that I'm still not sure what I want to do this weekend. I'm going to make myself an virtual list - and let's see how much stuff I get done over the weekend.

Friday

1. Errands: Target, AC Moore, bank, Sherwin Williams, grocery store
2. Pull up linoleum in the morning room to prep for new flooring.
3. Gym? {this is highly dependent on whether or not the guy giving us a quote on hardwoods comes tonight or tomorrow}
4. Do something outside. Anything.
5. Clean the house.

Saturday

1. Go on a picnic with The Mr. {perfect weather}
2. Get the last pictures for our "name frame"
3. Order said pictures.
4. Spread mulch?
5. Laundry.
6. Iron clothes {because I won't have time on Sunday}

Sunday

1. Tape master bath for painting.
2. Paint master bath
3. KKPsi meeting?

That's probably all I'll get done on Sunday. haha.

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blank

2010-03-09T16:14:00.005-05:00

The crickets are chirping in here, aren't they? My apologies for the lack of posting. I have pictures that I need to take and some pictures on my camera that I need to pull off.

We had a very relaxed weekend. The weather was nice and we didn't have anything really planned. I piddled around the house cleaning up here and there. I also tackled a few things in the bonus room. We take that room with small gulps because it's been a serious "catch-all" since we've moved in.

Some things that will be coming up:

We got some patio furniture this weekend. We're pretty excited about it since we've been shopping for patio furniture since we had the patio built.

Also our hardwood flooring came in on Friday. We picked it up yesterday... 54 boxes, two truck loads, and something like over 3000 pounds worth of wood. It's a lot of wood. A lot of wood that we committed to installing ourselves. Call me crazy. :)

And I'm still on the hunt for the perfect fabric for my roman shade in the morning room. I don't want to spend a lot of dough on an experimental project that may (or may not) work out.

I am going to meet my niece this weekend. I am pretty excited about it. She's the first in the family and she's super cute. So 5 hour road trip - here we come!! I plan to take several pictures this weekend with the little one.

Hopefully more updates to come soon - once I get those pictures off my camera!

a little help, please

2010-03-05T08:14:00.007-05:00

I really like this fabric. I like it a lot. And I liked it enough to seek it out to potentially make a roman shade for my back door in the morning room. I first saw this fabric on a blog post about a bathroom at Odi et Amo's blog.

She also links you to the place where you can ~~trade a kidney for~~ purchase this fabric. The website is Avid Home and the fabric is gorgeous. Just, not in my budget. $49/yard is a little steep. Especially since due to the width of the fabric, I would need TWO yards. Oye.

{source}

And here's the aforementioned door again. I ~~want~~ need something to cover that window. I'm sure our neighbors would love to not watch us eat dinner every night.

Here's where you come in... I need help either deciding on one of these fabrics OR finding something else to go on that door. I plan on making my own shade, unless you blogger friends of mine, can find a shade that is cheaper.

What am I looking for? Something simple. Geometric patterns are nice. Something light and airy because I will be, at some point, hanging sheers on the wall of windows. I like the gray in the first fabric - but I'm not married to gray.

I plan on making a no-sew roman shade. You know, the kind you use mini-blinds to make? Tons of information here if you haven't heard about these.

Here are some current options:

{source}
$14.98/yard

{source}
$12.98/yard

{source}
$8.98/yard

What do you think?? Or should I continue to shop around??

Happy Birthday, Vivaldi

2010-03-04T09:21:00.002-05:00

Google let me know this morning when I opened my Mozilla browser that today is Antonio Vivaldi's birthday. 332nd birthday, as a matter of fact.

I haven't listened to Vivaldi in quite some time - so I decided that today, I should listen to some of his work in honor of his birthday.

You are probably most familiar with his Spring from his Four Seasons. Very popular with brides.

But to add some more Vivaldi to your life, here are one or two you may not be as familiar with:

Concerto for Two Violins in A Minor

And last - Summer fro Four Seasons - rock version. For all of my non-classical loving readers.

Snow Globe

2010-03-02T16:48:00.002-05:00

My office has walls of windows and every time I look up from my computer, it looks like I am in a snow globe.

Pick us up, shake us around, and let the snow fall. Repeat.

That's been the day thus far - although it's been snowing hard and steady all day, but the ground is too warm for anything to stick. That may have something to do with the 50+ degree weather we've been having, right?

I am headed out to Tennessee at o'dark thirty tomorrow morning - I sure hope the roads are clear because I have a meeting to attend at 9am!

The Kitchen - Before

2010-02-28T07:42:00.006-05:00

So I mentioned in my last post that there were items on my weekend "to-do" list that I left off my list because they deserved their own post. Truth of the matter is - they are going to get several posts.

We are currently in the planning stages of renovating our kitchen. I'm sure all of you are thinking "*gasp!* But your house is only 2 years old!" Well, almost 2 years old...

That's right. It is only 2 years old. But we also moved in 2 years ago knowing that we didn't love our kitchen, knowing it could be better, and determined to do something about it. It's taken living here for a little under 2 years for the best plan to develop, the money saved to do it, and the planning to begin.

So here's a glimpse of what we're working with:

What you're seeing in the last picture is what is getting the majority of the overhaul. Technically, it's supposed to be our dinette (or eat-in kitchen, if you will). Note the light fixture that used to be centered over our table.

It was a little cramped and The Mr. and I both like to cook. Sometime we're in there together and the only real prep space is the island. This can create problems sometimes because we'll be under each other's feet - especially since the stove/oven is so close to the island. We needed a "two person" kitchen.

So what's the plan, Stan?

Well, we're going to put cabinets along the wall to the left of the dishwasher. Mostly standard size cabinets with one pantry cabinet. We're also going to rotate the island 90 degrees towards the sink/dishwasher area and probably move it 6" to the left. That will give us some more space and give us room to put our oven underneath the island. Replace the range with a smooth surface cooktop. And install new countertops.

Stay tuned...this is just the beginning! I am going to break down some of our inspiration ideas and hopefully a blow by blow of the kitchen as it comes together over the next couple (to several) months.

Ragged Around the Edges...

2010-02-26T10:35:00.004-05:00

I'm pooped. And I feel quite "ragged around the edges".

I don't have anything excited planned for the weekend even though my never-ending to-do list says otherwise. There are things that have been hanging out on this list since before 2010 started. How embarrassing is that? Somewhat embarassing for me.

So what will my weekend entail? I'll give it to you on a list so that maybe I'll knock some of these old "2009" things off of the list.

Finish wedding invitation order for Beth ...this sounds easy-peasy - but in reality will probably take up most of my weekend. Making screens and letting them cure/dry. Printing the invites, RSVPs, reception, direction, and accommodation cards with said screens. Letting them dry. Assembly required. And last, but not least, designing a monogram, creating a screen and printing itty bitty little squares for the pocketfold closure. I call this fun. You may call me crazy. :)
Vacuum the house, mop the floors, and maybe seal the tile grout?
Empty the dishwasher & clean up the kitchen ...yeah, I've got to put this on my "to-do" list because we've slacked off a little this week and I need to get this done ASAP. :)
Sort old magazines and rip out useful articles. ...this is the project that I started in "2009" and just haven't finished yet. The pile has been sitting next to my bed saying "Please, finish this so you can put this ugly pile away!" So, hopefully this weekend the ugly pile will get put away.
Shop for fabric for roman shade ...I keep thinking "Oh, I'll do that this weekend" and I keep putting it off. The reality of it is that I need to be doing it because I'm not going to find the fabric I want overnight. I mean, let's get real here.

Happiness is a mat that sits on my doorway...

2010-02-24T10:12:00.006-05:00

Who else loves some Matchbox 20 and Rob Thomas? :)

I got tagged by Heather at Heather Drive and that was so kind of her! It's been quite some time since I've done one of these...so here we go!

The Rules:

- List 10 things that make you happy
- Tag 10 other bloggers and link back to the person who tagged you

The List:

1. The warmth of sun on my skin.

2. "Dates" with my husband - on the couch catching up on our DVR backlog.

3. Organization. Everything has it's own place... :)

4. Feeling accomplished, marking something off my list, or enjoying the fruits of my labor (all kind of the same idea)

5. Laying in bed on a weekend morning - just enjoying the calmness of the day before we get up and running

6. Clean sheets. I always tell my husband "Don't rub the new off my side!!" haha.

7. Eggs - over easy with 2 slices of toast

8. New plants or vegetables that grow in our garden

9. My family & closest friends. They all know me so well and know how to make me smile.

10. A nice glass of wine with dinner, family or friends, and laughter.

Tag - You're It! Now I want to see what makes you happy!

Clemson Girl at Our Version of a Fairy Tale
Laura Elaine at Fool for the City
etta at Fiddle Dee Dee
C-Diddy at Keeping Up With The Joneses
Beth at Jeff, Beth, & Elaina
Molly at You're Talking Gibberish
Amy at Ink-Slinger's Post Script
Jill at Confessions of an Enginerd
Megs at Perfectly Imperfect
d.a.r at just another day

Dining Room - in progress

2010-02-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

Last week I showed you the morning room. This week, it's the dining room.

This room is most definitely still "in progress" because we plan on adding a chair rail around the room (hence the two different colors) and picture frame molding on the white section, below the chair rail.

This color is Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter on the top. The bottom is the builder's "custom" semi-gloss trim color. It's mixed by Sherwin Williams and they call it "Soft Shell" - but there are apparently about 20 different mixes of Soft Shell. You have to tell them your neighborhood and lot number and cross your fingers. Thankfully, we got the right color.

So what do you think? Ideas for other wall hangings or table centerpieces?

The Morning Room

2010-02-16T08:51:00.003-05:00

We've been doing some painting around the house lately. We knew we wanted a vivid color in the morning room (or technically we use it as a breakfast nook - but that's neither here nor there). We picked out this picture on the wall shortly after we moved into the house.

It has a terrible glare on it in the picture I took - so here's a better look at it:

(Image source: Jim Booth's gallery)

It's called Lowcountry Sunset by Jim Booth. When The Mr. lived in Charleston, sometimes he would take me to a bench overlooking the marsh and we'd either watch the sunrise or the sunset. This picture definitely captures one of the many things we loved about Charleston - and so we knew it was something we wanted to have in our home.

So when choosing a color for the morning room - which is where this lovely picture resides - we knew we wanted to use a color out of the sunset. We chose to go one shade darker than the kitchen - so we picked Sherwin Williams Torchlight. We had it color matched into Glidden paint - but after this painting experience, I'll never use Glidden again. I've never had such a difficult time getting good coverage on the walls.

So without further ado:

The room is still a little empty and lacking in the decor department - but I wanted to share the color with you because I'm pretty thrilled with how it turned out.

I know I need to replace that awesome Clemson floor mat with something that, well, "matches". And I would like to put a roman shade up on the patio door - I just need some help picking out the fabric.

So what do you suggest I do with this room? What else should I add in here to make it feel like like it's complete?

The "Feel Bad" Syndrome

2010-02-04T10:00:00.001-05:00

I am currently reading a book titled Pitch Like a Girl by Ronna Lichtenberg. It's all about how a woman can be herself at work and still succeed. There is one part where she discusses how we, as women, need to get beyond the beliefs that hold us back.

One of the scenarios that I read about yesterday was the "feel bad" syndrome. This is the calculation you do in advanced that if we do what we want, then it may cause a relationship rift. So instead of doing what we want to do, we do what someone else wants to do, and then we go home feeling like we've been cheated.

Um, hello. This is totally me. I feel cheated a lot - and it's my own fault because I don't speak up for me and what I want. I instinctively feel bad if I got something someone else didn't get (raise, assigned to work others were qualified for, car, house, job...) Instead of looking at something that should be considered a blessing or something that I should be proud of because I earned it - I feel bad and ashamed because I "did better" than someone else.

I was embarrassed that I was valedictorian in high school (still am a little). Who's embarrassed about that? I didn't want my friends to see my resume because I didn't want them to know what my GPA was because I was embarrassed by my success. I was shy and quiet when we bought the Altima because we were in a good financial position to buy a "new to us" car...

These are all ridiculous reasons for me to feel embarrassed or ashamed or shy. I shouldn't feel like this. I should feel good that I have earned all of these things through my hard work and dedication.

She also talked about the "energy vampire". And boy, who doesn't have an energy vampire?? What's an energy vampire? She suggests this: close your eyes, imagine you have caller ID on your phone and you just saw a name or number on the screen. How do you feel? If you feel like running away - that's your energy vampire. They just suck the life out of you.

We have to learn to nicely say "no" to these people. She says:

Sounds easy, right? So why don't you do it? You don't do it because of [the feel bad syndrome]. You would feel bad if they would feel bad, and they would feel bad because you weren't making their needs a priority. And if they feel bad, they won't like you. Which makes you feel bad. But if you do it, when you don't really want to, they won't feel bad but you will because you'll feel like you've been used, which, by the way you probably have. Got that?

I had an energy vampire in my life and when we talked it really did feel like she would just suck.me.dry. Like as she walked away, I would want to put my head down and just take a nap...and fire missiles...but mainly take a nap. One day, I guess I said something or didn't do something that made her feel bad, which, I suppose made her not like me. And then I felt bad for doing something that made her not like me. But I also felt extremely used and unappreciated when I cave and do the things she asked me to do for her. I never felt like she genuinely appreciated me, my friendship, or the things I did for her. I spent more time talking about how I felt used and what ridiculous stunt might come next instead of talking about all the fun I had with her... I realized that I had to be done. For my own sanity and well being, I had to be just done. I am done and have been for a while now. I feel so.much.better. It's like a breath of fresh air on the cool spring morning where you just feel like you have gotten your life back.

Do you have energy vampires in your life? Or do you suffer from "feel bad" syndrome?

No, really

2010-02-03T12:33:00.002-05:00

I wish you could meet this guy that I am spending my time with while I am out of town for work. I'll give you the highlights:

Our first evening at dinner was spent with him giving me all the tools I should use to get The Mr. to attend church with me. This included (but wasn't limited to) first convincing him to join the Knights of Columbus, encouraging him to attend the RCIA program, and finally asking him if he would just go to church "for me".

I feel like I should discuss this first bullet point more. The Mr. and I don't care for the priests at the local Catholic church. One of them seems to fall asleep during communion while holding up the bread for the blessing. The other one has a very heavy accent and after 2.5 hours* of Midnight Mass at Christmas and what felt like a repeat of Talladega Nights and "baaaaaaaaaby Jesus" we have decided that we just can't handle that anymore. Plus, even if we could handle one more than the other - they don't have a schedule for who says which mass - so it's not like you can avoid the one you don't care for.

Did I mention that their "Sunday school" classes happen in the afternoons during the week? So even if we wanted our children to attend Sunday school at this church - I'm not really sure how we would manage that (even though that's a long way off - but if we're looking for a church for our family...then it's something to consider). As a matter of fact, this guy that's trying to convince my hubs to go to church told me the "easy" solution to children going to Sunday school: "Just get one of your Catholic friends to take them." We live in the South - I can count on one finger the number of Catholic friends we have...and they don't attend church. So you figure that one out.

I shot holes in all of his suggestions. Even if my husband were very interested in attending church on a regular basis - he would not be interested in joining KoC because it's a bunch of middle aged men with wives and children who get together to drink beer and get away from their families. My husband doesn't really need the excuse of this group of middle aged men to get away from me - he just turns on the PS3.

RCIA is like going back to school. Doesn't appeal to him whatsoever. And lastly, I feel like asking him to go to church for me defeats the purpose of him going to church for him. Which is what I think the ultimate thing should be. Plus, I don't think it's very Christian like to be deceitful and con someone into going to church. I can't make him believe and I don't think I should force him into either. He's not one who takes well to being forced to do something.

Our dinner schedule is set by his TV schedule. Heros at 9pm? Let's eat at 7pm. LOST at 8pm? Let's eat at 6:30pm. But then he follows it up with "Well, you have the car so it's really up to you." Is it up to me? Because you just basically told me our schedule...
The statement "I'll pick you up at 6" needs further clarification as in "Are you going to be there at 6 or leave here at 6?" ...what do you think it means?
And last but not least - he is trying to manipulate me into leaving on Thursday so that he can be home to attend his Knights of Columbus "meeting"... I have offered to take him to get his own rental car but he has declined. I am tempted to stay until 4pm on Friday just to dig at him.

In order to keep my sanity - I keep visualizing puppy dogs hanging out with rainbow pooping unicorns in the land of bliss.

*we left after communion, which was 2.5 hours in - not at the end of mass. You know mass is too long when the people who are showing up for the next service could literally just get in line for communion from the previous service. That's terrible.

Ketch-Up

2010-01-27T08:44:00.008-05:00

You can call me slack... Slacker than slack, if you really want. I'd like to pretend it's all because I haven't been in front of a computer because my super-awesome-no holds barred life is just getting in the way. But we all know that's a lie.

First off - did I mention that my grandmother turned 90 two Saturdays ago? Oh yeah, she's 90 and only just recently had her license taken away. Bummer. I know that it's safer to have elderly with poor sight off the road...but it pulls on my heart strings because she's always been so independent! (I have been trying to make a 101 in 1001 post about visiting her but I am waiting on some photo evidence)

In other family news - my sister is (currently) going to have her baby tomorrow. They have scheduled to induce her, assuming there are beds in L&D available. It's pretty exciting (for me, at least, because I don't have to go through all the pain of pushing a 7lb human out of my va-jay-jay). I think she is excited about having her first baby, as well. All at the same time that I am excited I keep thinking "wow - is my sister really at the age to have kids? Because if that's the case then I could theoretically have my own child." And that, my friends, is just flat out wild to me. I still feel all young and carefree. I don't feel like I am old enough to seriously have a child. But that's a whole differnt story.

In other, work related news, I am currently billable (if you don't know what that means, then just take it as "somebody is paying her and not currently on the block to get laid off"). I am working out of town - which has it's ups and downs. It's nice to get out of the office and stretch your legs (and see what you've always seen on paper come to fruition) but at the same time, you're away from home. So there's that.

In sports related news, let's talk about The Saints. The Mr. has been a Saints fan for as long as I have known him - and was apparently a fan long before that as well. He's not a bandwagon fan. He didn't join The Saints crowd after Katrina because they went to first round playoffs that year. He's hardcore, Saints (well, as hardcore as you can be without watching every.single.game). Well, tickle us black and gold when The Saints beat the Vikings in OT and are now (let's all say it together) GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!! I jumped out of my chair about 6 feet in the air when the kick was good. So good, in fact, that he had room to spare. Pretty.freaking.amazing. {and this probably deserves it's own post...but we'll just save that for Superbowl Sunday}.

Speaking of Superbowl Sunday... People have always asked us here and there when we were going to host the Superbowl Party and we, in all seriousness, have always said we'll throw the party when The Saints go to the Superbowl. ...yeah, you can put two and two together. I need to find some things to make now!

A Giveaway?

2010-01-18T09:37:00.002-05:00

I don't mind if I do. :)

I've been following this blog, elefantitas alegres, for quite some time now. I love her writing style and her analysis of the daily life.

She also has a blog called "I Take Photos in the Bathroom" or ITPitB for short. It's hilarious and she's quite the fashion-ista. It gives me a little boost of confidence to give a style a try that I often shy away from because of the ol' hips.

Back to the point - she's hosting a giveaway! Woo! So ~~don't enter so I can win~~ go jump on the bandwagon so maybe you can score a gorgeous handcrafted silk scarf.

Have I ever mentioned how much I just adore scarves? I have a whole woven footlocker with nothing but sweaters and scarves in them. A handcrafted silk scarf? Oh my - it would be the cherry on top of my scarf collection.

shhh! This is a library!

2010-01-14T09:22:00.003-05:00

Yesterday when lunch time rolled around I was tired of sitting at my desk. I didn't have a magazine to read on the treadmill at the gym. I didn't want to go to mall for fear of spending money. So I decided to go to the library to find a new book.

Only after I pulled into the parking lot did I realize that was a bad call. I should have stayed at my desk.

The parking lot was FULL. Actually, over capacity because people were parked illegally. I'm a very legal person - so I stalked a mom and her kid to their spot so I could have it. Then I see another mom + kid duo. And another. And another.

I think to myself "Oh, look - children's reading hour or something must be finishing up." I think it was more like an "or something". As I walked in the door - some children were screaming their heads off as if someone just stole their favorite toy, some children were just yelling, and some children were just whatev.

I try to be extremely patient when I am somewhere and their is a child's event going on. I understand that when there are a lot of small children in a large group it can be hard to manage. I understand that around lunch time it may be nap time for a large majority. I get it.

It's hard for me to not get flustered or anxious though. I am trying to work on being more understanding and patient. I know that one day, I may be that mom with the screaming child in a library (although my parents never allowed us to speak above a whisper in a library - regardless of the situation). Children aren't always angels - so I know some day I'll be out running errands with an irritable, unruly child. I often ask myself how I would handle this situation? What would I say to that child for them to understand that what they are doing isn't acceptable? What would I do to reinforce this? Would I just cut my errand(s) short and take them home? Say "we're done for the day!"? I am the youngest of three - so I'm not even sure I remember what my mom did when we became unruly.

I can only hope that the parents of these children acting like maniacs in a library are doing everything they can to teach their children how to properly act in public. One day, when they are older, they will hopefully appreciate their parents efforts (and so will the rest of society).

And I can only hope that when I become a parent, I hope that I don't suck at it.

In da gym...workin' on my fitness.

2010-01-11T20:53:00.002-05:00

So delicious. Ooo wee! (yeah, Fergi!)

Another straggler has joined our group.

Oh, what group is that? tsk, shooooot. I haven't talked about this before?

But no, really. Today at the gym, I realized that I don't think I've ever mentioned my girl SusieQ.

SusieQ is my totally random workout partner. And I mean totally random. The only thing we had in common at the time we started working out was that we both worked out with Elvis. And you know Elvis. I believe I fondly called him Mr. Muscles.

So yeah - SusieQ. She had the personal training slot immediately after mine. We'd usually tag off (you know, like they do in the WWE partner wrestling stuff? Exactly like that.)

Come to find out, our sessions both ended at about the same time (whew!) but we wanted to keep pumping the iron (rock on!) but we knew if we went at it alone we'd probably fail (bummer!).

So we did the next best thing and became insta-friends. That soon developed into "heeey, let's got get some beers."** So this whole thing has become pretty awesome.

Anyway - back to my original point. We've added a new member to the "Corners at Peak" group.*** Jean-Marie (or JM). She should have known this wasn't something she wanted to do when we describe the next exercise as "this one sucks worse than that other one that I said sucked the most." But she's a tough one and doesn't give up...I hope she can walk tomorrow. Heck, I hope that I can walk tomorrow. Let's get real.

Workouts in the corner with these two are comical and there's no getting around it. From our corner (yes - really, it's a corner. People leave us alone, don't eye our weights - esp. the 30 lb bar that is apparently the only one in the entire gym...you know)... but from our corner we can see a lot of things - so good and some really just not so good.

And now that the introductions are out of the way. Here are the two lessons learned, if you will, from the gym tonight.

(1) Don't call SusieQ out across the gym and tell her to straighten her legs out. Elvis yelled from the other end of the gym "Susie! Susie! Straighten out 'dem legs!" That in itself was funny enough to make me stop my bicep curls. What put the icing on it was SusieQ stopped mid crunch and yelled back, "Boy, please. You ain't on my pay roll. Shoooot." Pretty sure at that point the whole gym was looking at us and LOLing at Elvis.

(2) If you are of the male gender and like to wear your silky/polyester style gym shorts - please, for the love of pete, ensure they are the correct size. We do not want to know what your goods are because your shorts are a little too static-y tonight and clinging in all the oh-so-wrong places.

It was quite the impossible task to stop staring at this dudes junk. And he kept walking funny... maybe he had a wedgie? Maybe he was wearing a thong? I'm thinking thong. And I wish I had a picture because I would post it here for everyone to decide.

**Yes, I know that grabbing some beers with your iron pumping partner is like walking backwards. But sometimes you've just gotta let loose.

***We actually just totally named ourselves today. SusieQ wants us to make a workout video like Fonda...and we could because we've all got a motor in the back of our Honda.+

+Please, please tell me you know what that's from... (Someone keeps requesting this song on the radio stations "My-Pod" lunchtime hour. I always crank it up and rap it out!)