Surgery

I tried so hard for my knee to heal on its own. My doctor confirmed yesterday I will need to have surgery on my knee. I am going to put it off until the end of November when things slow down at work. I have to be out of work for two weeks while it heals. It is my driving leg so I can’t drive either during that time. Not going to be a fun time.

Thought for the Day

I love it on the weekends when I can put my make up on with natural sunlight in the background. The only downfall is I realize how bad my crow’s feet are for only being 28.

Bike Fest

Saturday I started writing down weight watcher points again. I failed at losing any weight the last three weeks by attempting to do it on my own. It is amazing how well Weight Watchers works for me. I already dropped 2 pounds. Now only one more to go for my happy weight. Three if I want to fit into my skinny jeans.



Friday and Saturday was Capital City Bike Fest. It is neat to see a lot of motorcycles in the center of the city. Tony and I went downtown Friday night and Saturday after his work party. Saturday was miserably hot for a bike fest filled with thousands of people. It was probably near 100 degrees, 20 degrees above our normal temperatures for the year. It was cute on Friday. Tony took the day off to enjoy bike fest. He called me before noon wondering what time I was going to get off of work and then around 3:30 came to see me at work. I could tell he really wanted to spend the day with me. We ate dinner at Mecca Diner in downtown Raleigh. I wanted to eat there for a few years but they are cash only. Finally I had cash on me. The diner has been in business for over 80 years. Original tile is still in the door way and on the floor. The booths are half the size compared to today’s booths. Certainly could not be overweight and eat there. It feels like you are stepping back into the 1940’s. Good food and neat experience.





Tony has been on a cigar kick. I hate it. Stinks and I am sure will cause health problems for him later even with it being a few a month.


I see the doctor on Wednesday for my knee follow up. I can tell the shot is wearing off. My knee is starting to hurt again. I hope one more shot will do the trick.

Karate

Here are some pictures from my promotion ceremony the other week. Sorry no action photos. Tony only comes to watch me once every few months and he does not have the camera. The next promotion ceremony will be for my black belt!


I am moving up in the line!


Me with Mr. O. He is my main instructor and is a 9th degree black belt. Very few people ever reach that ranking.

Crack Heads

We have not had a decent rainfall in Raleigh for a very long time. Finally for the next few days there will be rain. It was very nice driving to work this morning since there were no beggars off the sides of the road on and off ramps on my drive to work. Or should I say crack heads.

There is a difference between a homeless person and a crack head. Homeless people I view as those who had it really rough with a job loss, then losing their home, no family to rely on, and then found themselves in the streets. They use the proper resources to get into shelters and try their best to find programs to get back to work. These are the people I feel bad for and wish I could help.

Crack heads are the ones off the sides of the streets that consider begging for money their job and they use the generous donations from people to buy crack or exchange food and clothing people give them for crack. Crack heads beg on the off ramp on my way to work and they sit by the on ramp on my way home. These people are scary. They cover their faces with their sign so you don’t see their stoned face and their scabs from the crack. This one guy I see in the morning stares at you through your car window. Even worse is I am stopped at a stop light so they are only a few feet away.

Some crack heads can be very entertaining. One guy near the Southpoint mall had the best crack head sign I’ve ever seen. “To stupid to steal. Too ugly to prostitute.” He only had shorts on with his fat belly hanging over them. I wish I had my camera on me because that was priceless. I was impressed he spelled prostitute correctly. Most of these crack heads hold ups signs saying they are a Vietnam Vet. Some of them are too young to be a Vietnam vet so that just pisses me off. One guy I passed a few years ago spit on vehicles as people drove by and did not give him money. The worst is seeing them go to the bathroom on the side of the road… one and two. Sorry buddy – that bush is not covering you all the way.

The biggest puzzler for me was the homeless guy with the ruby red electric wheel chair. How does that happen? Who paid for that and shouldn’t he have a home to go back to with that expensive wheel chair? He was parked at the top of a hill on an off ramp. I prayed he did not go into reverse too far or it would have been a long way down.

Now for those of you not living in a city that are gasping at the stuff I am writing you really have to see this to believe it. When I first moved to Raleigh I felt bad for these people. One morning on my way into work I only had a yogurt with me. I gave it to the guy and he threw it.

Now to the biggest crack head of them all…or at least in this case the biggest drunken pervert…my neighbor down the street. I don’t know all the details but he did some horrible things with underage kids and likes teenage Asian women and he is in his 40’s. He goes from job to job and has his mom pay his mortgage. Yes…drunken pervert is one of those beggars you hear about that has a home in the suburbs and begs for money. He went about 5 miles away from our subdivision and begged off the highway. My friend’s mom and my neighbor caught him. It was not a mistake because they saw his car parked just a few blocks away. I am not sure how long he did it for or if he still does.

Lesson for the day: Don’t enable the beggars! If you really want to make a difference in these people’s lives donate to the shelters and not handouts on the streets.

Being Satisfied with what I have

Over the last few years Tony and I have been very undecided about what to do with our house. Do we move? Do we stay put? We finally decided after over five years of living in our home we are going to stay put for a long time. Right now we are locked into a 30 year mortgage at 5.875%. Today we sign application papers at BB&T to refinance our mortgage to 15 years at 3.75%! Our payments will be a little more than they are right now but not by much. If we stay at our house for 15 years I will have the house paid off by the time I am 43. Now I do doubt we will be there a full 15 years but we will have a nice down payment on the next house.

After a lot of thinking we decided with the location of our house and how much work we put into it we really would just like to sit back and enjoy what we accomplished. Still more to do with completing the patio and getting new carpet but everything else feels complete. Our house is large enough for the two of us if not too big and we have a great back yard. Sucks being off a busy road but when it is not rush hour it is really not that bad.

It seems like as Tony and I get older we realize having the latest and greatest things are not worth it. I would love a bigger home and a new car and we can afford it but at some point we stepped back and decided to be satisfied with what we have. Maybe that is what more people need to do. Stop trying to get the nicer car, the nicer house, the newest TV and just be happy with what you have. Having extra money for his motorcycle and traveling are more important to us. I am looking to our future now and we both do not want to work forever. I just read in a magazine the other day to spend money on experiences, not things. If I try to keep up with the latest I am going to miss out on experiences.

Now a bit of therapy I need. Stop filling my closet full of new clothes and be happy with what I have. Maybe the next time I get the urge to go shopping I start making new outfits out of the clothes I already have.

Then about the new car since you all know I really want one. I gave up on it. I am good with what I have. Although Tony does not seem to believe since I have always gone back and forth. The difference is whenever I wanted a new car I went out and bought it without even thinking twice. This last year I keep going back and forth and can’t even decide on what type of car. That tells me I am just not ready for a change and need to be satisfied with the car I have. Tony’s job is bringing me back to reality if I start talking about a new car again. He can put his foot down and say I don’t think so. Even though I could get a cheaper payment than what I have now the bigger picture is having less than two years left on my car loan and only having $9,000 more to pay off. Just like with the mortgage. We were just fine with our payments going up and having to pay the refinance fees since our home will be paid down at a much quicker rate. It is about the future and not the present.

Lesson on Why Men Always Need to Listen to Their Wives

Tony had a valuable lesson the other day on why he should always listen to his wife. Our dialog went something like this.

Tuesday Morning – Issue – Tony’s Harley is low on brake fluid

Laura: “Are you taking the bike today?”
Tony: “Yes, I take the back roads to work so I should be OK.”
Laura: “But you are low on brake fluid. You should take your truck.”
Tony: “I will be fine.”

4:30 PM – Tony calls Laura

Tony: “Did you go to Harley during your lunch and pick up brake fluid?”
Laura: “No I did not have time. Why?”
Tony: “I almost T-boned some lady that pulled out in front of me.”
Laura: “Are you OK?”
Tony: “Physically yes; emotionally no. I had to put the bike in the ditch.”
Laura: “Would you have been able to stop in time if you had all your brake fluid?”
Tony: “Probably.”
Laura: “I told you not to take the bike.”
Tony: “I’m going to Bikers Boulevard right now to buy brake fluid.”

5 PM – Tony gets home

Laura: “I am calling Aflac for a quote!”
Tony: “Don’t you have enough insurance out on me already?”
Laura: “Not for added protection above short term disability.”
Tony proceeds to put brake fluid in his bike.
Tony: “I almost kissed a deer last week too; I don’t think I told you that.”
Laura: “You almost hit a deer…on the “safe” country roads?”

Now I am thankful Tony was not injured and his bike is OK but had he listened to me that morning this would not have happened. Or the lady would have been t-boned by his big F150. We do not know why the lady pulled out into traffic and took up both lanes. There was no reason for it. All she did was say “I’m, sorry. I did not see you.” As Tony was calling her a f’ing bitch. He feels bad for that now but honestly how do you expect a biker to react after some lady almost took him out. The lady took off and someone that saw it happen helped Tony get the bike out of the ditch. Tony had is angels out there watching him and was very lucky. If something had happened to him I do not know what I would have done.

My Boca Burger Diet

In an attempt to lose weight I am going to go on a Boca Burger diet. I ate them all the time when I first started Weight Watchers. They are only one point a burger and are a pretty good size. They are very filling but yet taste like something the cat vomited up. I ate one tonight and had to choke it down. At least it is helping me control my hunger for the rest of the evening. I hope to eat at least one four days a week. I am sure it will help me keep my weight down for as long as I can stand it. Now I have to figure out what to do about my snacking.

Oops... I Slipped Up.

I am really trying to drop a few pounds since putting 9 back on from my diet. Three would be nice…five would be awesome. I managed to get one pound off. The one thing that is nice when I am a bit heavier is I have a great behind. That sports reporter in the news recently about being harassed…I am proud to say with a nice pair of jeans on my rear rates the same if not better. However, when I put on a nice fitting dress I have to put Spanx over my Spanx. Or at least buy a slip to hide the cellulite giggle that has taken over my rear. Now I finally understand the purpose of slips. They are more than just protecting from static electricity.

I slipped up and went shopping on Saturday. It had been nearly 4 weeks since I was out shopping…a record for me. I really wanted a new dress for NYC. I need to look fabulous on the Sex and the City tour. I had it in my mind to just buy one dress and ended up with two dresses, two pairs of shoes, belt, purse, and a sweater. Ok….I went a bit over board but I am going to look fabulous. I can also wear the items to work so it is not a complete waste of money. The purse I bought is not the most fashionable but it is going to be great for using in NYC. It is a purse that I can adjust to go across my body leaving my hands free to take pictures and so on. At least it is made by The Sak. One of the dresses I bought was only $13 and it is so cute! I can either wear it with my new fabulous pair of gladiator inspired shoes or tall boots depending on the weather in NYC. Since I bought new clothes for the trip I am not going to spend any money on clothes in NYC. The purpose was to buy clothes to look fabulous there and not buy clothes there to look fabulous in Raleigh. My new goal is to make it two months without shopping and if I have to shop it will only be for Christmas gifts. I do like to get a head start on buying presents so it fits in the budget better. Two months may be very difficult but I am confident I will be able to do it. With my husband reading my blog I give him permission to make me return anything new I buy if I slip up.

Slow Cooker Drama

I did something completely stupid. I received a letter from Kohl’s stating my slow cooker I purchase is on a recall list. I follow the instructions to receive my refund which involved cutting the cord off the slow cooker and mailing it in with the form. I cut the cord off and placed the model number sticker from the bottom of my slow cooker onto the form. Mother F*CK*R! The month the model of my slow cooker was made is not on the recall list. Just ruined a really nice slow cooker. Note to self: Double check before cutting the cord.

Stuffed Chicken with Prosciutto, Gruyere, and Arugula

Friday night rather than going out on our normal date night Tony and I decided to stay in. I found a recipe in my Cooking Light cookbook that looked interesting. It is chicken stuffed with prosciutto, gruyere cheese, and arugula with caramelized shallot sauce. I already had the chicken, prosciutto, and gruyere so I only needed to pick up a few items from the store for the rest of the meal. I started cooking a little after 5. The longest part of this meal is the preparation. You have to put the chicken between plastic wrap and beat it down to about a quarter inch thick. I never did this before and the first one I smashed a bit too hard and put a hole through it. The direction say so only layer the cheese, prosciutto, and arugula to just before the edge of the chicken. I was a little lazy and went over the edge but to make up for it I used toothpicks to seal the edges. I finally am getting ready to put the chicken in the pan when I look over at the clock and it is 7:00 already. Cooking Light way underestimated the time on this one. All I can think to myself is this better be one of the best meals of my life for how long this took. I could not find shallots at the store so I used a red onion instead. It turned out just fine. As I am going through all this hard work Tony tells me Mac and Cheese with hot dogs cut up into is one of his favorite meals. Nice! Thanks for not telling me this two hours ago. The meal turned out perfect. Tony loved it. The taste of the gruyere between the prosciutto and the chicken was amazing.

Recipe: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=344095

Our patio extension was last week. They did an OK job. There is an area that collects water and they splashed concrete on the siding. Tony has to call them back to fix those issues. We also finished the courtyard with patio block we moved. Well, it is half done. We still need to put the pergola over the courtyard, do a roof over the new patio, and tile the new patio. URG! Lots of money to spend in this area. We are just going to have to do it a bit at a time. One the bright side slate tile has gone down a lot since we tiled our kitchen. We plan on using slate over the patio. I still need to take pictures of the patios.

Advancing in Karate!

I am so excited! I passed all but two items on my list to get my first degree brown belt for this month. I should be able to get my last two items passed next week. That means my next belt is BLACK!! There is a deputy black belt in between the first brown and black but technically it is still a first degree brown belt. They give you the new belt when you are halfway through your requirements. After I get my first degree brown belt I will officially be training for my black belt for probably the next six to nine months. It is going to be some grueling training. In Tuesday’s class we were practicing Shan Shin which is a breathing kata. The goal is to focus on your breathing and movements while the instructor breaks boards over you when you least expect it and you have to keep going through the kata without screwing up. For those of you not familiar with karate I think the best way to describe katas are martial arts dances. You have specific movements and technique that represent fighting off attackers. Tuesday rather than breaking boards Mr. O punched and kicked us. I would rather have a board broken over me than to receive one of his punches. Wednesday I could not figure out if my nausea was from my mini migraine or the punch. Yesterday in jujitsu class I wrestled with a 14 year old girl. Nothing like a shot to the ego when you get your ass kicked by a teenager. Mr. O is training her to be a ruthless fighter and national champion. She can take on most of the grown men in our classes. That makes me feel a bit better. She has been training since she was three years old. I did find her weakness by tickling her. Not legal in the sport but it got her the heck off of me.

Labor Day Weekend

It was nice to have a three day weekend without being on the run. Normally Tony and I always plan a mini vacation somewhere during these times but it was so relaxing to just stay home. Friday night Tony and I went to a neighbor’s house for a cul-du-sac party. It was pretty fun. I brought the Tastefully Simple crab cheese ball with and people loved it! I had a great time hanging out with my neighbors. I do not know most of them that well so it was nice get out of my comfort zone and hang out with other people.

Saturday I did my normal routine of cleaning the house and doing my grocery shopping. Tony did a lot of the house work that day so it gave me more time to do my shopping and take Jack to his yearly vet appointment. My friend Melissa brought her dog over to play with my dogs. We are still working out Jack’s aggression issues with other dogs and he did pretty well. Saturday night we went to Charlie Goodnight’s Comedy Club to see Tracy Morgan. He is a little fatter in real life than what you see on TV. This dude is just raunchy. He was funny but I am not sure if you can get more disgusting than him.

Sunday Tony and I worked on moving the patio block over to where the shed used to be. It is great to see the courtyard starting to come to life. We went for a Harley ride later in the day. I was having a fat moment when getting ready to ride. OK…I put on 9 of the 15 pounds I lost. I am not very happy with myself. I knew the weight I got down to was a little hard to manage but now I am just pissed none of the jeans I bought fit me. I need to drop at least 4 or 5 of those pounds which I know I can do if I try really hard. I just do not want to go back to tracking Weight Watcher points. Now that my knee is getting better with the cortisone shot I can start getting back on my treadmill and it should help me out with getting those pounds off. I can’t stand how all my weight gain goes directly to my thighs and butt. I want to look great when Tony and I go to NYC. I did make BBQ by using the Tangy Tennessee BBQ sauce from Tastefully Simple and it was so good. I used a lean piece of beef and then shredded it after it cooked for 7 hours in the slow cooker. This one is a huge hit. I need to buy more of the sauce.

Monday I met Melissa at a park to practice my katas for karate. She really helped me learn a kata I have been struggling with. She also wore me out. I wanted to take the dogs to the park for a hike but I came home and crashed. I was feeling out of shape when I was working out with her. I must be picking up some type of bug since my energy level was so low today and I was exhausted for no reason. I spent the rest of the day on the couch or in bed. Just wonderful for my goal of losing 5 pounds but at least I worked out earlier in the day. Since Tim’s wedding I have been really missing my brother Bill. Life just is not the same without him around. I am sure that sadness has been part of my weight gain and just not caring that much anymore about what I am eating or sometimes even my appearance lately. I will pick myself back up in a while.

Earlier last week Tony received an email from Tanya. She wants to make up with us and realizes now that Tony and I were only trying to look out for her when I spoke out about her drinking. I am still undecided about what to do. I have not responded to her email yet. It would have been easy to forgive her and move on if the argument was only about our disagreement on the subject. Since it became personal with attacks from her and her friend about my unemployment it is hard to move on. I don’t know how you forgive someone that made such harsh attacks. I know I was not the nicest either in our fight but I only stuck to the issue at hand. I do miss her friendship and there were times something happened when I just wanted to pick up the phone can call her. I just need more time to think about this.

Headed to NYC!

I just bought my plane tickets to NYC for Tony and me. I can’t wait. We are going to take a four day weekend in October and visit. We used the American Airline vouchers from the trip to Curacao so we only ended up paying $34 for both of us after the vouchers. Hotels in NYC are not cheap. The average hotel is $500 a night and you have to watch out for the really cheap ones… you may share a bathroom with your neighbor. I chose the Fairfield near Fifth Avenue for $309 a night. One of the nights is paid for using my Marriott points so we only have to pay for the two nights. Sweet! I think the only planned tour we are going to do is the Sopranos tour. The rest of it we probably will just walk the streets and see Central Park, 5th Avenue, Broadway, and Time Square. It has been 8 years since I visited NYC and I loved it. Great place to visit but not to live.

I want a new car

Tony and I went car shopping a few weeks back. I really want a new car but have had a difficult time figuring out what to buy. We stopped at a few dealerships and nothing really stuck out to me. I like foreign cars but also do not want to pay an ass load for the luxury cars. I have a 2003 Jaguar right now. Sounds like luxury but is far from. I have 68,000 miles on it now and only owe about $9,000 with two years left on my loan. Some days it does not sound bad at all to just stick it out and pay the sucker off. Then there are days I would love a cheaper car payment since mine is $420 a month.

We did end up test driving one car. Of course it was not a cheap car. I got talked into test driving a Mercedes C class. The guy drives us off the car lot into a parking lot to show us how the car turns around in circles in such a tight radius. I wanted to vomit. Very neat turning radius but I do not know many people that want to spin around in parking lots. Maybe he should show that feature to teenage boys. Then he proceeds to tell us how he has worked for Mercedes Benz for some 15 years and never lost a person in a car accident. Many people may oh and aw at that statement but I am thinking…that you know of. I doubt someone will walk away from a Mercedes if a dump truck smashes into the front of the car. What an idiotic statement.

I get in the driver’s seat to start my test drive and the seat is not power. Are you f’ing kidding me? This may be a lower end Mercedes but it is still a Mercedes and I expect everything to be power. I test drive the car for about 20 minutes. It is OK but I am not overly impressed. The car was a 2006 with 40,000 miles on it and they still wanted $25,000. Hell NO! Many foreign auto dealers tack on another $4000 just to make the vehicle certified. Basically this means they put on new tires and brakes and charge you $4,000. We did not buy the car. Way more money and miles that what I want. I do have to say driving that car made me appreciate my Jaguar. Even though it is old I would have to spend $16,000 to get a Mercedes with not as many features, only 26k less miles, and only three years newer. Yeah paying off my car sounds even better.

One vehicle I am very interested in is the new Hyundai Tucson. It is a small SUV that gets 30 MPG and is pretty sweet looking for a Hyundai. I like the new model but will have to wait for a year or so to buy it. We will see how many times I change my mind between now and then.