Note to Folks with Two Kids

Let me start by saying - I love my 4 kids and wouldn't want to think what life would be like without any of them...


That being said they are a lot of work.  The friends we have typically have kids the ages of our older kids, or kids the ages of our younger kids.  There aren't many folks out here with kids in a twelve year span.  If we had just the older kids it would be easy for me to go to all the after prom meetings, organize the baseball meals, and go to all the college softball games.


If we had just the younger kids, it would be easy to be a class mom, help coach softball and do cheer fundraisers...


I just wish I had one friend that lives what I live and I didn't always have to make excuses.....

March Already?

I can't believe it is March already.  I actually love January and February because they are our slow months.  This year they have just flown by.  March is when things get busy again.  Alyssa's softball games are in full swing, Trevor has HS baseball practice every night and games begin later this month, Mac has started soccer practice and games begin in a week or so, and Brennah is practicing softball, and still has cheer going on.  Things don't slow down again until October - except for a couple of weeks in early August we will have something going pretty much every day.

The exciting thing about this March (other than Alyssa's and my birthdays) is that we get to go to two weddings.  The first is this weekend for our niece Janell - marrying her long time sweetheart Matt.  The next is on St Patrick's day and is one of Alyssa's best HS friends Jamee.  For a while she was pretty much an extra child in our house - spending lots of time with us.

The new eating plan has been revised.  I realized I was much to tired the way I started out so I have revised, but I am still eating healthy, still no soda (I can't believe it has been over a month) and am generally feeling much healthier.  I still have a long way to go to get to a healthy weight and get my body in better shape.  We purchased a recumbent exercise bike so I can have some cardiovascular exercise without putting further stress on my foot.  I feel it is a bit better, but don't want to be on it any more that I have to be - that only extends the healing process.  I am hopeful that it will be much better by summer.

I have ordered several healthy cookbooks and have been trying lots of new recipes.  The family has been mostly positive about the healthy eating.  Rodney has high cholesterol so hopefully this will help him as well.  He thinks he eats healthy, but really does not make healthy choices most of the time.  Hopefully some of it will rub off on him.

Day 5 of the new eating plan.  It is getting easier - mainly eating protein shake for breakfast and then veggies and a protein for lunch and dinner.  I must say, I will be glad when this part of the plan is done and I can move on to the next phase and starting eating some fruit and whole grains.  The tiredness is better today - probably because I slept better last night.  I found out that everything was fine with my follow up mammogram so no more worries about that.  Julie A called to see how I was yesterday afternoon.  It is nice when new friends are concerned about you.  Of course, I didn't tell many people about it because I didn't see any need to worry them until I was sure there was something to worry about.  Rodney didn't even remember that I had the appointment - I had to tell him before going to bed last night that everything was fine because he didn't think to ask about it.

Day 3

So this is day 3 of the eating adventure.  I am feeling really tired, not sure if it is from the foods or because I haven't slept well for the last couple of nights worrying about my mammogram.  I wish I could just turn my brain off.  Often I try to concentrate on praying, but somehow the worry still creeps in.  The steak last night was really good...  Rodney did a good job commanding the grill.

Brennah has cheer practice tonight 5:45 - 7:45, but I think that is all we have going on....  maybe will be lucky enough to hit the bed a bit early.

New Eating Plan

I've started a new eating/exercise plan called The Pink Method.  I saw it on Dr. Phil so I though perhaps it would be worth a try.  I really want to get my body in shape - I feel somewhat like it has betrayed me...  I know that in reality I have made my body the way it is, but the things I used to be able to do I can't do any more.  I started the plan yesterday - the first two weeks is mainly protein and veggies - and then after that you add in quite a few other foods.  I am cooking the same stuff for the rest of the family, just adding in some type of starch food for them also.  I feel that I am carb sensitive so I think this will be good for me.  I have 40-45 pounds to lose and really want to get them off so I don't have to start my 50s overweight like I have been in my 40s.

The thing I am most worried about is the plantar fasciaitis in my right foot which will make some exercise difficult.  I have always enjoyed walking and haven't been able to walk since mid-summer.  It is still extremely painful after 6+ months.  The insert for my shoe helps marginally but doesn't seem to be a long term solution.

Also - I have the added stress that I have to go in for a follow up test to my mammogram I had last Friday.  I trust that God will not give me more that I can handle and will see me through in this.