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.

My Busy Weekend

This past weekend flew by so fast! Crystal arrived Friday evening and we went out to dinner at my favorite Japanese restaurant. Crystal lived in Japan for a year while she was in the Army so it brought back memories. At this restaurant they cook the food in front of you. Our chef was offering to toss food into your mouth and I pulled open Crystal’s shirt so it would go between her boobs. She just loved me for that one. We stopped at a few stores before returning to my house. We had some drinks and I put in a movie. We both were exhausted. Me from working that day and Crystal from the drive. We fell asleep during the movie.

Saturday I took Crystal to downtown Raleigh to ride the trolley at the Mordeaci plantation. It takes you around downtown Raleigh and provides the history of the city. I have not been on that tour in a few years so it was nice to do it again and get some ideas for new places to go. I took her to The Pit for lunch. Bobby Flay did a BBQ throw down there. Very great place to go. We did not even make it there until after 2:00 and it was still packed! We had the funniest gay waiter ever. He was fun and so on target with his jokes. Later that evening we decided to go to the comedy club for a show. It was OK. The opening act was better than the main act. I can’t remember the guys name but he was the opening act for a show Tony and I saw a few weeks ago and also was way better than the main show. I took her to Rum Runners after the show. Rum Runners is a dueling piano bar where the musicians and crowd get involved and sign obnoxiously to classic songs. I love this place. I am able to break out of my shell since everyone is acting like an ass. Crystal is used to clubbing so this was a little out of her comfort zone but she had fun. We only stayed for an hour and then went home. We had the midnight munchies so we stayed up to eat and talk some more before going to bed.

Sunday morning Crystal left to return back to Charleston. I had a Tastefully Simple show at my friend, Elissa’s house. I think I did OK in front of the crowd. I was able to get $410 in sales and two more show bookings!

Tony returned home from camping with the guys Sunday afternoon while I was still at the show. He had a great time with the guys. It was a little strange not talking to him at all on Saturday. Not sure if we have ever gone a full day not talking to each other when one of us travels. I think he was a bit disappointed I did not miss him as much the last time he went to the Harley rally in the mountains. With Crystal visiting she kept me busy so my mind was on other things.

I am excited to report we are planning our next vacation in October. We are going to go to NYC for a four day weekend. I was able to get one day off of work next month plus a banker’s holiday. We want to go to Arizona to visit Tony’s cousin but that will have to wait until earlier next year. We want to make that a five day trip since it is a longer flight to get there and my vacation is limited because of a project I am working on so I was lucky even to get the one day off. I am going to buy the plane tickets soon so I cannot be forced to cancel my trip. I am going to use my travel vouchers from American Airlines to pay for the tickets so they will be practically free.

Happy Anniversary!

Wednesday was our anniversary. Nine years already! It is so hard to believe. Many people never thought Tony and I would make it even a year after we were married and here we are nine years later still going strong. I think many people do not fight hard any more to keep their marriage alive which is why so many end in divorce. Tony and I have been through a lot in our marriage and we always managed to pull through and come out even stronger.

For our anniversary we stayed in and I made Italian fondue and a chocolate caramel dessert fondue. Tony did not care for the Italian fondue sine it used white wine. I liked it especially since it had bacon it. Normally I make a German fondue with beer that he loves. We never get each other anything on our anniversary. Many years we went on a mini vacation around our anniversary. I did have a trip planned for Charleston next weekend but I canceled it since I am just now working again. So instead of a trip we consider the new concrete patio our anniversary present. We did exchange cards. Sappy cards really make me want to vomit. Normally we get each other funny cards but Tony went down the route of a sappy card this year. Even though they make me want to hurl I know the words in the card are what Tony would say to me. Now my card on the other hand was a funny card. On the front of it were two frogs and it said “I’ll love you…” and in the inside it said “…until I croak”. I thought it was funny and in my weird way my version of romantic…Tony…not so much. But he did laugh. I promised him for our 10 year I would get him a sappy card.

We watched a movie we just received from Netflix. Get your tissue ready. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale is a huge tear jerker for people that love dogs. Even if you don’t have dogs there is no way you could not possibly cry in this movie. It is based on a true story about the strong bond between a dog and its owner. The dog showed up every day to greet him at the train station when he returned home from work. Halfway through the movie the man dies and the dog still showed up every day for nine years waiting for his owner. Very powerful story. There is a statue at the train station in Japan where this all took place. The movie puts it in the United States in a current time to relate to the viewers. You can read more about it on this link. http://japancinema.net/2010/01/13/hachi-a-dogs-tale-review/

Yesterday I could tell a huge difference in my knee from the cortisone injection. I was able to get a great workout in karate. Probably the best I’ve had in months. The bad news is I was about to have a steroid fit at work from the injection. I could feel my chest tightening and my adrenaline start racing over silly things I had to do at work. Nothing that would every make me angry or irritated on a normal day. I had to leave work during lunch before I lost it. It was kind of scary. I hope my knee stays doing well so I do not need the shot again.

Today Tony leaves for the mountains with his friends for a dude weekend camping trip. Crystal is coming up from Charleston to visit me for a girl’s weekend.

My First Tastefully Simple Party

Today was my first Tastefully Simple open house hosted by me. Five of my neighborhood friends came over. We had such a great time talking and getting stuffed. It is so amazing how the product sells itself after people try it. I even sold myself on more products! In LOVE with the Artichoke and Spinach mix. Including my Mom’s order I had $366 in sales. Not bad for my first show!

Yesterday an old coworker from WI came to visit with his fiancée. Tony and I took them around Raleigh and we ate dinner at one of the Irish Pubs in downtown Raleigh. They came back to the house for drinks. We had a fun time talking and catching up. It was a gorgeous day in Raleigh.

This weekend flew by so quickly. Tony is taking off to the mountains on Friday with some guy friends for a camping trip. My friend Crystal is coming up from Charleston to visit for the weekend so we can do girl things. Another exciting weekend heading my way!

Give Me a Freaken Break

Thursdays I have a meeting that goes until 4:45 so I do not have much time to get home, eat, and make it to my karate class at 6:00. My work is in Durham and Karate is in north Raleigh. I rushed out of the office and down two flights of stairs. I fell down a few steps on the second flight and had to grip onto the handrail so I would not fall all the way down. My body swung around and I hit the side of the steps with my bad knee. Are you kidding me? Both of my feet smashed against the steps pretty badly to. I guess this is a sign (could God be more obvious) that I need to take a break tonight. No karate for me.

No MRI for Me

My doctor decided to do a cortisone injection rather than jumping on the MRI right away. Since my knee was in the process of getting better before my little set back he wanted to try the shot first. I have a follow up appointment six weeks out and if it is not better in four I will call to schedule the MRI. The shot starts working in a few hours up to a week. So far no real change for me. The hardest thing for me is going up and down the stairs since I am putting all my weight on the one knee at the same time. Yesterday when I was trying to do crunches on my exercise ball Jack ran into it and knocked me over – twice. Things like that do not seem to help the knee very much. Tony of course thought it was one of the funniest things he saw in a while.

Touchy Topic - Mosque Near Ground Zero

I am about to speak out on a very unfavorable topic, the Mosque near Ground Zero. This is a very tough situation. It was Muslim extremists that killed almost 3,000 people in the 9/11 attacks. A tragic day in America. I was against this when I first heard bits and pieces on the news. After doing research of my own I am now leaning on the side for the Mosque. Let me explain the facts I found and please keep an open mind about this when reading it.

1. A Mosque is a place of worship for Muslims. It is just like a Church to Christians. It is not a memorial. The English language falsely translates it to memorial when it really is a place of worship. Only Muslim extremists believe in killing people despite what other people may believe.

2. Many people are comparing the Mosque to a tribute to Hitler. You can only compare this situation to Hitler if there was a memorial dedicated to Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein. A place of worship is completely different than memorials for the World’s worst offender of terrorism and crimes against humanity.

3. Muslims have been worshiping in another area near Ground Zero for years prior to the 9/11 attacks. We only know about the Mosque in the news now because of the new building proposal.

Now after I found some of these simple facts I thought to myself in the Christian religion we believe Jews killed Jesus. In America we allow Synagogues and the freedom to practice the Jewish religion. It was Adolf Hitler’s Christianity extremist view against Judaism that led to the Holocaust and the murder of an estimated 11 million Jews. Have we banned Christianity in America or in Germany? Has Christianity been banned in Israel? Absolutely not. Maybe this is America’s opportunity to understand the Muslim religion. Can you imagine what it must be like for a decent Muslim American with so many people against them just because of their religion? What about all the hate crimes against Muslims right after the 9/11 attacks when these people did nothing wrong. Isn’t it against our beliefs to discriminate a person because of the color of their skin or religious views? There are bad Muslims out there just as there are bad Christians.

While not the ideal location with Americans still healing from 9/11 we need to consider religious freedom in our country and promote understanding of the Muslim religion. Muslims need healing as well for those that have escaped terror in the Middle East and those currently being discriminated against in our country for matters out of their control. I think Americans would be in an uproar even if it was a mile away versus two blocks just because this is all over the news. My concern with the Mosque near Ground Zero is the hate crimes and vandalism that may happen there. I think the considerate thing to do would be to build the Mosque further away from Ground Zero. However, if for any reason that is not possible due to loss of members because it is further away, lack of the type of property they are looking for (it is NYC), etc. then we need to accept this for what it is. This is not meant to be a slap in the face to Americans.

To end, if you read this and still are completely against a Mosque near Ground Zero at least I provided you with some facts and things to think about. There are a lot of false assumptions currently out there and I hope I helped clear up some of the confusion.

Dinner for Me

Yesterday I came home to dinner on the table for me and Tony waiting to eat until I arrived! He even poured me something to drink. I was in shock and completely grateful. I can’t even remember the last time he went that far for making dinner. Okay, so it was a steamer meal he had to toss in the microwave for 10 minutes but still the fact he did it is awesome. I hated to eat dinner real fast on him and leave but I had to head out the door to karate. I started testing for my first degree brown belt last night. I am not going to make it this month but am glad to have some things signed off. I passed five out of nine katas. Not a lot considering I still have 14 self defense sets and line drill to pass. Just as I was getting ready to test on my sixth kata my knee gave out. I pushed myself way too hard. It almost felt like my tear went down even further. I am sure that is not the case but it did NOT feel good. My doctor’s appointment is this afternoon so I will let you all know how it goes.

Getting back in the groove

Yesterday Tony and I tagged teamed dinner. He got home 45 minutes before I did so he put the pork in the oven and I finished making dinner when I got home. Normally we eat around 5 and we did not eat until 6 last night. It felt nice to make a decent meal and sit down together. We do not get to do that too much now that I am working again. I am going to save the easy bagged meals for the nights I go to karate. I only have about a half hour from the time I get home to when I am out the door again.

My job is starting to get more interesting as the days go on. I am getting more involved on one of my projects and am starting to feel like a contributing asset. I brought the team peanut butter bars yesterday since we are locked in a room for 3-4 hours straight each day performing testing. It was appreciated and I think I earned some brownie points with the team.

This past weekend Tony and I were very busy. Now that I am working again we are going to have our concrete patio extended the second week in September. In the meantime we have to tear down our shed and move some existing patio blocks over to where the shed was located. That area will become a courtyard since it is already boarded by bushes and trees. I am going to plant some vine bushes as soon as we build a pergola around it. On Saturday Tony cleaned out the shed and made a trip to the dump on Sunday. Then we began tearing down the shed. We are just about done with it. This weekend we will be able to move the blocks over. Where the patio block is now located will become part grass and the rest of the area will be taken over by the new concrete patio. Our current patio is only 10x10 and when it is done I think will be 14x27 or 14x22. I can’t remember what I told the guy. That area will also get a pergola but with a covered roof. Then we will tile it. It is going to be a lot of work that probably will take a year to complete it all due to cost but it will be beautiful once it is all done.

The Rest of my Trip to WI

Sunday late morning Tony and I left to visit Joe and Kelly. They came to the wedding reception the night before but I was not able to visit with them as long as I would have liked with everything else that was going on. We stayed there for an hour or two and then left to visit my friend Gladys in Wisconsin Rapids. I have not seen her in a few years. She was one of my good friends before I moved. I was so glad I had time to go and see her. Normally Tony and I are not able to visit with friends when we go to WI because our time is so short. This time around I did not feel bad leaving the family since we were just there last month. Gladys lives an hour and a half from my parents which makes it even more difficult to see her when I visit. Gladys invited Sy and Melissa over for dinner as well; some old friends as well. We had such a great time. I forgot how funny Gladys’s husband, Jeremy is. Gladys has a 14 month old daughter and is pregnant again. Ileana is so cute. She was playing in the cabinet that has the storage containers. Tony looked over and said, “Is she grating her tongue?” Ileana grabbed a grater and put her tongue against it. Gladys turned around and took it from her. The funny part was Tony just questioned it rather than running over to see what she was doing. We all laughed. Later on we found out Ileana thinks farting noises are funny. Tony was making them with his mouth and then I lifted up my arm and blew on it to make the noise. Ileana copied me and did the same thing. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Now she knows how to make farting sounds on her arm. The day after we left she still was doing it. Gladys made some awesome pickles and gave me some to take home. Hers were crunchy compared to the ones I canned. I am going to have to get the recipe from her.

Monday morning Tony’s parents took us to the airport. Everything was going great until I tore my knee in the Detroit airport. We were walking and I could feel it tear and heat up and then it started swelling. It remained sore for the next few days and I had to get out some steroids from when I first injured it. The steroids really help the swelling but I want to eat everything I can get my hands on. I struggled through karate last week to keep up and my instructors knew I was injured so they took it easy on me. I am going to see the doctor on Wednesday this week. I am sure I am going to need the MRI done to see how bad my knee is. I have a better health insurance plan where I work at than Tony’s insurance. Paying for the MRI will not be a huge deal now.

Tim and Ashley’s Wedding Part 2

My mom is one of the noisiest people you will meet. I was hoping to sleep in a bit the day of the wedding. My hopes were crushed by the sound of Mom doing dishes and laundry. I could hear flatware being tossed into the sink, dishes banging together, the dryer door slamming…and much more. Mom, I know you are reading this and saying to yourself “Laura! I was busy that morning and stressed out.” Love you Mom but you have always been this way. I was too until Tony pointed it out to me years ago. He hated how I used to slam the lid on the toilet seat or the door on the washing machining. A new washing machine lid and toilet seats with shocks on them can help a person break some bad habits. Anyway…back to the morning of the wedding. I took a shower that morning and put extra hold gel in my hair so my style would not fall out. That crap sucks. It took three days for the gel to completely wash out of my hair. After getting ready I made my way to the salon. Tony cousins were doing the hair for the wedding. They both did amazing jobs on everyone’s hair. Of course I had to be the last bridesmaid to show up but not incredibly late. The Southern living is finally catching up to me. In the South it is appropriate to be late to anything and everything.


My Family with Ashley

Between the salon and wedding the bridesmaids were doing their makeup in Ashley’s hotel room. I stopped at Grandma and Grandpa’s after the salon waiting for Mom to arrive before heading to the hotel. Mom was running behind and when she got home at about noon to get her dress and get Dad…Dad was still sleeping! Yes, if Mom had not gone home Dad would have slept straight through the wedding. At least he looked well rested in the photos. I ended up not making it to the hotel room to do my makeup with the girls but did meet them at the church. I know, I know…last one there again. I did start helping out immediately. Ashley needed her shoes put on so I crawled underneath her wedding dress, in my bridesmaids dress, with my ass in the air. My sister-in-law knows me so well she said “Leave it to Laura to go under.” As payback for all the unflattering rear end photos I took of my mom in the past she had the photographer get pictures my ass in the air.


I just like how this picture makes me look skinny

The wedding ceremony went well. The maid of honor froze so I stepped up and fixed Ashley’s dress during the ceremony. The ceremony goes by so fast. It is hard to believe brides and grooms have so many nerves or the easiest piece. We took pictures at the church and at a park. The photographer was very creative although I did get worried when he had Ashley stand on an unstable log, on steep hill. All I could do was picture her falling and rolling down the hill right into the water. Luckily nothing like that happened.

The Bridal Party

Before we knew it the time flew by so fast it was getting close to the reception. We all sat down for dinner and the fun was about to begin. I bought two 12 packs of PBR and a bottle of Jack Daniels for Tony and my cousins to drink so they would not have to pay for drinks at the wedding. They could just sneak up to the hotel room for a refill. What I did not expect was for Tony and my cousin Gary to polish off a bottle of Jack Daniels before the dance even started. Dad took the flask away from Tony during dinner so I think that helped him pace it out more…what little could be paced out.

A great close up. I can tell I am aging

Jon had a great Best Man speech at the wedding. He had people laughing and giving more reasons for him not to get married since he already has a woman to cook for him – Ashley. Ashley’s Dad’s speech was pretty good and embarassing for her. Lets just say he reminded Tim once a month he needs to stop at the store and pick up Kotex super. I had my own little speech but it was not nearly as good as Jon’s.

When we did the bridal party dance the groomsman I was with had never danced to a slow song. To make matters even worse he was already shit faced. The funny part is people could tell I was teaching him to dance. Luckily Tim and Ashley’s bridal part are a bunch of goofballs so they thought it was hysterical.

Tony started dancing late into the night. He is so funny when he dances. My uncle Bill was watching Tony and asked me if that is how Tony dances or if that is the Jack Daniels dancing. It was the Jack Daniels. There was even a song that told people which direction to turn and how to step. Tony just decided to start dancing in a circle…I have that one on video.

Tony dancing with my Aunt Sandy

The night seemed to go by so fast and before we knew it the reception was over with. Tony passed out on the bed snoring so loudly. I decided to sleep on the other bed in the hotel room or he would keep me up. The next morning there was gift opening at th hotel. Tim and Ashley received a lot of nice things.

More to come on the rest of my trip!

Nikki's Visit

The night before we left for Wisconsin Nikki came to visit. They were running behind so I got out of cooking them dinner. I did make the Hungry Girl Red Velvet cupcakes and completely slaughtered them. I was in such a rush I forgot to put the salt in and I ran out of red food coloring. Amazing how just salt makes such a difference. I thought they tasted like crap but Tony did not mind them. I sent a bunch with Nikki since we were not going to eat them.



It was so awesome to see Nikki again. Her husband is really nice and I am happy for her that she found such a great guy. It is funny that it seemed like we picked up right where we left off and did not feel like 9 years since we last saw each other. I took them over to my friend’s house so her son Benjamin could meet Evan. They are only a month or two apart and when they were babies they looked like twins. It was fun to watch the boys run around and play.



Just having Benjamin around for a few hours shows how little I know about children. He is only 16 or 17 months old and Nikki asked for a glass of water for him. I fill it up to the top and hand it to him. He attempted to drink it and proceeded to dump it all over himself. Okay…I filled it too full. So I emptied half of the glass and gave it back. This time he thought it would be funny to dump it on Sydney. Nikki laughed and said “Laura you have to hold it for him.” Before they left we took a few pictures and Nikki handed me Benjamin for one of the pictures. Holding kids makes me nervous especially when they start to cry. That mother instinct surly has not picked up in me yet.

Nikki is back in Jacksonville, Florida so hopefully Tony and I can take a road trip by her sometime this next year.

Tim and Ashley's Wedding: Part 1

I have so much to write so I am going to split it up into a few postings.

I can’t believe my little brother is married. It seems so strange. The wedding was beautiful. The whole time I was in Wisconsin I was kept very busy.

Thursday when we arrived Mom had to take us to Kohl’s so Tony could buy some dress clothes. It never fails. Every trip we take he packs late at night the night before the trip. All of Tony’s ties were ruined…I put them in the washing machine last year. Ops! None of his shirts fit him properly and his dress belt was coming apart. We were able to get him what he needed for the wedding.

Friday was the day of the rehearsal. Jon and I went shopping that morning. Jon has not been clothes shopping in years. I know he must really be interested in girls now since he asked his big sis to help pick out some new clothes. Back to Kohl’s I go with him. Jon has no sense of fashion. His wardrobe consists of old, light colored tapered leg Levi’s, old steal toe shoes, and a random t-shirts. I filled a cart to the top with clothes for him to try on and sent Jon to the dressing room. The man takes forever to try things on. He is even worse than me. I decided to grab a stool out of one of the dressing rooms and sit down right outside his door so he could show me everything he tried on. Yes…I was in the men’s dressing room. A lot of men turned away once they saw me there. Tough crap – welcome to 2010. What I found hysterical was the 65 year old guy in the dressing room trying on the same type of Levi’s Jon wears. Good reason for him to update his wardrobe. Jon really did not care for most of the things I grabbed but he was a good sport about it any way. He told me if he starts attracting bleach blonde bitches he is going to be pissed at me. I responded with “would you rather attract a burly bitch instead?” Amazingly Jon said yes. Jon ended up spending about $200 that day and I spent another $50 on new pairs of jeans for him he would have never bought on his own if I sent him back. Hopefully he wears them. I really enjoyed being able to hang out one on one with my brother. We hardly get to do that. Jon does not understand marriage. He told me he is enjoying being alone and having fun with the single life. I reminded him herpes is forever.

Jon and I were put in charge of decorating the getaway car before the wedding. Mom provided us with a “tastefully” prepackaged car decoration kit. I applaud her effort to think Jon and I would do anything tastefully. After we were done clothes shopping we stopped at Walmart for some additional car decorations. Balloons, streamers, 3XL panties, Schlitz beer, car paint, and condoms. Jon blew up the balloons and condoms to toss in the car. Tim has an old Ford Galaxy. I hung the panties from the rear view mirror and Jon tied the beer cans to the back of the car. We did use the kit mom provided so the decorations were not so redneck.



After Jon and I were done shopping we had to go to the reception hall to help decorate. Most of the work was done by the time we got there. I don’t think Mom was too happy with us showing up late but Jon and I had planned our shopping trip for a while. I was helping out with decorating the trellis and almost flattened it! I was standing on a chair leaning forward, trying to put flowers on top of it. The chair I was standing on started to tilt forward and my knee banged into the trellis. Luckily I caught my balance and was able to put the chair back down. If it was not for someone underneath it at the time to help stabilize I probably would have crushed it just like Chris Farley crushed the coffee table during an episode of SNL…You all remember it….Live in a van down by the river!! HAHA. So what were the guys doing while this was happening…sitting down acting as project managers. Yup. Not a one got up to catch me. Go figure.

The rehearsal went great. Ashley put me in charge of being the bitch. I am good a bossing people around. I made several corrections to make sure her day turned out perfect. Amazes me how some people are afraid to touch each other when walking down the aisle. Then they act like they are sprinting in the Olympics. Slow down! I had to go out for a drink with the bridal party after the rehearsal to show people I am not a complete bitch.

Mom prepared most of the food for the rehearsal dinner. She is never going to do that again. Talk about stress for that woman. Ashley bought all the bridesmaids jewelry for the wedding, a makeup bag, lotion, and a lipstick holder. Very nice of her to do that. The groomsman were given Jack Daniels flasks and glasses. Perfect for those guys.



Tim and Ashley at the Rehearsal Dinner

Help Received

My stress level is going down now. Tony helped me out yesterday with the house. Judging by the base box still being on and the internet cords not hidden under the bed Tony did not read my blog yesterday about my rant. Which means he really did step it up by offering to help me. I need to have more faith in him when it comes to working together. I skipped the last karate class so I would have more time to prepare for my trip to WI. As much as I did not want to skip class I knew I had to. The house is cleaned and ready for Nikki’s visit tonight. What sucks is I forgot to make cupcakes last night. I got completely tied up with other things. Maybe I will have time right before I put the turkey breasts in the oven. If not I guess it is no big deal. Tony did comment to me during dinner he liked me better when I was unemployed. I know he was joking but I have to agree with him. I was more relaxed and not so stressed out about all the things I need to get done in a day.

Now that I am not at home during the day any more my dogs were wired last night! They wanted to play late into the night. I normally do not allow Jack or Sydney on the bed but last night I called Jack up just so he could lay by me and chill. When I called him he jumped from Toni’s side of the bed and woke him up by jumping right on his stomach. Ok…so it did hurt Tony but I could not help but laugh uncontrollably.

Well you won't be hearing from me for a couple of days since I am off to WI for my brother's wedding.

Redemption!

Tony just redeemed himself. He sent me an email about Nikki coming and what needs to be doing beforehand. He either read what I wrote below and had a wakeup call or he is actually taking the initiative to reach out to me and see where I need help. Either way, I am impressed and he scored some brownie points.

A Little Help Here!

I have so much going on this week and I do not know where to even start. I think Tony got way too spoiled the last year or so with me being able to handle just about everything around the house from cleaning, bills, cooking, shopping, vet appointments, and everything else it takes to run a household. I did all of that while working at my old job as well and putting in massive OT each week. So now Tony needs to get his ass in gear and realize now that I am back to working in an office I cannot handle everything on my own. I need help cleaning again and once in a while he is going to have to make dinner if I get home later than he does. I really do not know how working parents function properly. It is hard to keep just Tony and me straight.

Yesterday after work I had to drop off some clothes at the tailors for Tony and me and then I went to Kohl’s before coming home to find a new coffee maker. Of course the coffee maker I wanted was out of stock…or…let me start over. I pressed the help button at Kohl’s. It took a while for someone to show up and it was not even her department. I wanted to know if they had the coffee maker in the back. New stock is always coming in. The lady disappeared for a while and came back and said someone told her what they have out there is all they have. BULL SHIT! I asked her if they could call a different store to see if they have it before I drive all the way up there. She said I can go to the customer service counter and have them do that. My response…wait for it…”So you are telling me the person who is responsible for this area cannot come out here and help me like they should be doing.” Her response was “….Well….yes”. Horrible customer service. I stopped at another Kohl’s after karate and found it. Of course they had a nice stock guy who was filling the shelves again. Now let me tell you why we needed a new coffee maker. We have a cappuccino/espresso/coffee maker that seemed so cool when we bought it two years ago for only $25 – a $150 unit. It already has been replaced once by the manufacturer since it leaks water from the bottom. Our new one started doing the same thing and just continued to get worse. Tony does not think we need a new coffee maker…why…because he is not the one that cleans it up!

I brought the old coffee maker up stairs in storage just in case one day we may have someone over that would want a cappuccino or espresso. I would prefer to toss it in the garbage but Tony wants to keep it. On my way up stairs the piece of shit dripped gross, thick, old coffee from the bottom all over the stairs and hallway. Where was Tony when I was cleaning up this mess…playing video games. He had such a hard evening mowing the lawn. Can I say give me a f’ing break! He spends maybe 2-3 hours a week on yard work mainly because I can’t mow with my knee and then also a few hours a week working on the fence. Me…I spend at least 15 hours a week just cleaning alone not including paying bills, monitoring our spending, cooking, grocery shopping, and all the other wonderful things. Yet he always has to bring up the fact he stained the fence or mowed the frickin lawn. Like he deserves a reward. Here is a beer…good boy. Are you kidding me? He can’t even pick up the lawn furniture and mow underneath it. Annoying! I am the one that takes care of the landscaping other than him trimming a few bushes once in a while. Never have I seen him out there treating our bushes with Sevin or spraying weed killer. I do all of that. Oh another thing that pisses me off. He drags out the internet cords to hook up to his Xbox. He never puts the cords back all the way underneath the bed so no one sees them and forgets to turn off the base box which I asked him to do in the past.

Why am I ranting like this? Tonight I will be at karate from 5:30 – 9:00 including travel time. I do not pay $100 a month to not use my membership so I make an effort to go at least twice a week but lately has been more like once a week with everything that has been going on. My friend Nikki is coming to visit tomorrow and the carpets need to be vacuumed and hardwoods washed. Tony knows it needs to be done but I can guarantee I am going to be coming home at 9 and have to start on the floors. I also need to dust, just in the main area and make sure the kitchen is picked up. The rest of the house is fine. Wednesday Nikki comes to visit Wednesday when I am off of work, I am going to cook dinner for us and then not sure how long she is staying. After Nikki leaves Tony and I need to pack for WI and get the house ready for our dog sitter. Then to bed as early as possible since we have to get up at 4:30 AM to catch our flight to WI. I love that Nikki is coming to visit but I need help from Tony to prepare the house and I have a feeling I am not going to get it. I am not completely blaming him. Much of this is my fault with how he has not had to lift a finger around the house for over a year. Heaven forbid I ask for help because then I am nagging.

I am also working on my speech for my brother’s wedding. It is a hard speech to write. I checked online for tips on what to write about but the circumstances of my family make it a bit difficult. One of the things was to write about where you first met the bride. The first time I met Ashley was at my brother Bill’s funeral. So can’t write about that. I do want to mention Bill watching this special day from heaven but also do not want to burst into tears at the reception. URG! This is so hard. This week I feel like I am drowning in things to get done and do not know how I am going to do it.

Work and Play

I am now day three into working again. It still feels weird. I miss sleeping 10 hours a day and now my body has to adjust to 6-7 hours of sleep again. Not liking this. I am a person that loves to sleep. Tony on the other hand is happy I am not staying up until midnight any more. It does not help the coffee at work is so strong it tastes burnt. So gross.

I am quickly realizing I am not longer going to be able to keep a nice house 24/7. When I worked from home I was still able to keep the house clean since I straightened up the house on my breaks or while on conference calls. I hate having a dirty house. I vacuumed at least once every other day. I can’t stand dirt. Tony made the bed this morning. I think that was the first time he made the bed in the morning in probably over a year. He still does not do it right but at this point I really cannot complain.

Tony and I kept busy this weekend. Friday night we went out to dinner and then went to Elissa’s house for drinks. I rode the Harley with a dress on which made for a cold ride back home later in the evening. The first cold night we had about two months and it just had to be that night. It also takes skill to get on and off a motorcycle with a dress on and not show everyone my business.

Saturday I of coursed cleaned…now that I have to clean on the weekends again. I was able to stop at Kohls and get some pants for work. It rained all day so we stayed in and watched movies. We watched The Young Victoria which Tony HATED and could not wait for it to be over with. I loved it.

So I am trying not to spend money on things we do not need to but Sunday we found an awesome deal. We love the Adirondack style beach chairs and World Market had them on sale for $50 each…solid wood! We bought four of them. It is impossible to find these chairs under $100. The plastic ones are around $50. The plan is to have our patio extended in the middle of September so these chairs are a perfect addition. With the chairs and the new work clothes I bought it is time to stop spending money for a while.

I am so excited about kicking off my Tastefully Simple business. I organized my office around it. I only make 30 percent on sales, which for the price of the products is not a whole lot. After business and party supplies it is probably more like 20-25%. I had to spend quite a bit of money to get started but my kit also included products to sell. It probably will take me around 3 or 4 shows to recoup my start up costs. There are other items I want to buy to create gift baskets that can be sold at the shows. I think this is going to be more of a sales job that gets me out of the house to meet new people and share my obsession of Tastefully Simple. The money making will come later after I get a larger customer base and get recruits under me.

I am back counting weight watcher points this week. When I was doing weight watchers earlier this year I lost 15 pounds. I only wanted to lose 10 so the 15 was an added bonus. However, I started putting a few back on since my bridesmaid dress was tailored. My brother’s wedding is this coming weekend so I cannot afford to put on any extra weight. I hate counting weight watcher points. I hate watching my weight period. Lucky for me the first few pounds I gain go right to my rear end and Tony loves a nice bottom. I think I graduated from the Jennifer Lopez ass to the Kim Kardashian. Really, for the size of my waist this thing is huge. My size 4 skinny jeans from Ann Taylor Loft are tight around my thighs and butt now to the point of cutting off my circulation. They have stretch in them but I stretched those things to the max. I let Tony witness what it is like to put on skinny jeans. Not a pretty sight. Pull them up, squat, pull them up further, squat again, repeat, suck it in, zip, button, and squat…squat some more...in about an hour they will feel right. You know what really does suck with losing weight, what little bit of real boob I did have disappeared. Now I am all fake. I can’t imagine how odd I would look without these implants. My proportion was so off before.

Oh, update on my knee. It was getting better but now with me on my feet all day again it is swelling back up. I was supposed to go to the doctor this week but I cancelled my appointment. I know he is going to recommend a MRI so I am going to put it off for another month or so until my paychecks come in. I am able to get around OK but the bending is killing me. I am happy to report my ER visit only cost me $150. I was so worried it was going to be very expensive with the CT scan but all of that was included in my ER copay. I have not received the bill from the doctor yet. Hopefully that is all covered. The hospital outsources to another company so they bill separately.

Tastefully Simple Website Up

I finally got my Tastefully Simple website up and ready to go. Check me out online!

www.tastefullysimple.com/web/lhilt

My New Job

I am two days into my new job now. It is so weird I started this week with interviews planned and then all the sudden I have an offer and am working on Thursday. Life sure does have a way of surprising me. My job has been a little slow. Thursday was filled with HR paperwork and an introduction to the project. Friday I was able to sit with a coworker part of the day and start learning their systems and processes. When I was at my old job I spent 9 am to 5 pm on conference call straight. Very rarely did I have any breaks and sometimes there were two and even three conference calls on my calendar at the same time. This new job sure is a change of pace for me. I might just learn how to relax and not be so uptight. I am sure things will pick up at my job but I will not nearly have the amount of conference calls I did at my last job. I might actually be a 40 or 45 hour a week employee rather than a 60.

Since I started working in a professional environment 9 years ago I always wear high heels. I am so used it that I really cannot walk without high heels on. Well…this last year of working at home and wearing flip flops all the time took that leg strength away from me. One day wearing heels for a full 9 hour day and I am so sore! The bottoms of my feet and calves are screaming at me to take it easy. I never had a problem walking in heels for this long until now. Hopefully it does not take me long to get used to it again.

So one huge problem with me not spending money. With all the weight I lost (Ok I put 5 back on) I bought all new clothes earlier this year. What I did not buy was work cloths. CRAP! I do need to buy a few new pairs of dress pants. I should be OK on shirts. I have about 25 pairs of dress pants and almost all of them are falling off of me. I do not mind if they are a little big but some of them are just extreme. I also need a new pair of black dress shoes. I really have not purchased a new pair since I worked in an office every day.

My Last Day as a Housewife

I made sure my last day as a housewife went out with a bang! I did not sit back and relax all day. I cleaned, canceled other interviews I had lined up, and cooked a great meal for Tony. This is his last day being married to a housewife and more than likely will not be coming home to home cooked meals every night. Our schedules are going to be slightly off. I probably will get home an hour and a half after he does since he goes into work early. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will not be cooking anything since I have karate those nights. Either it will be left overs or he is going to have to cook the meal for us. Tony will also have to get used to eating later at night if I am going to cook when I get home. I probably will get home between 5:30 and 6:00 each night and Tony gets home at 4:00. While working at my last job I worked at home so even though I would work to 5 even sometimes 7 at night I could quickly toss something in the oven or take a break to make sure dinner was ready for him.

Okay…backed to what I cooked today. Yummy! I first tried low fat monkey bars from Woman’s Day magazine. These are so stinking good I had to fight not to eat almost half of the batch. I did make one mistake. In the recipe I was only supposed to put a half cup of the chocolate chips in the batter and then sprinkle the rest on but I put the full cup in. Does not make a difference in the taste but all the chocolate chips sink to the bottom. They are 3 grams of fat per serving but I made a few modifications so it is probably only around 1.5 grams of fat per serving. 1.5x40 servings…okay…I had my share of fat today. Ops.

Monkey Bars

1 2/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 5 bananas)
¾ cup packed light brown sugar (I used brown sugar splenda)
¼ cup oil (I used applesauce)
¼ cup milk
2 large eggs (I used egg beaters)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
1 ¾ cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350 Degrees. Line a 15x10x1/2 inch baking pan with nonstick foil and let foil extend about 2 inches above pan at both ends.
2. Whisk mashed bananas, sugar, oil, milk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl until mixed thoroughly. Whisk in flour just until blended; gently stir in ½ cup of the mini chocolate chips.
3. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
4. Holding foil by ends, lift from pan onto cutting board. Carefully cut lengthwise in 4 strips and then cut each strip into 10. Remove from foil.

For dinner I made Tony Buffalo Shrimp Sliders from Redbook Magazine. I made these once before and he loved them. I did make a few modifications. I added red pepper flakes for more heat as Tony likes it. He does not like celery so I used onion instead. I also used whole grain flat bread buns, toasted with butter spray and garlic. I did not do red pepper flakes, onion, or garlic the last time and Tony liked it even better this time around. Now what did I eat since I do not like seafood...a Morning Star black bean burger. Yes, Tony gets the homecooked meals.

Buffalo Shrimp Slider

8 (3-inch) soft dinner rolls, split – or 4 regular buns
1 small heart romaine lettuce, finely shredded, 2 cups
1 celery stalk, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced
1/3 cup shredded carrots
3 tbsp blue cheese dressing
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
3 tbsp hot-pepper sauce or buffalo wing sauce
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese

1. Heat the broiler. Place dinner rolls, cut side up, on baking sheet. Place under broiler and lightly toast, turning baking sheet to toast rolls evenly.
2. In a medium bowl, toss lettuce, celery, and carrots with dressing. Divide the mixture over the bottom halves of the rolls.
3. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add 1 tbsp butter and shrimp. Sauté 2 minutes or until shrimp are almost cooked through.
4. Add remaining 1 tbsp butter and hot sauce to skillet; continue to cook, stirring shrimp in buffalo sauce with a slotted spoon until cooked through, about 1 minute. Spoon shrimp and sauce over lettuce mixture, sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles and place roll tops, toasted side down.

Now I have to share the potato salad I made Tony and his friends for guy’s night last Friday. This potato salad is a hit whenever I take it to a party. It is spicy and you can only make it with Tastefully Simple ingredients…so call your Tastefully Simple consultant to place an order…that would be me. Especially do not substitute the bacon bits for any other brand. It just does not taste nearly as good.

Fiesta Bacon Potato Salad

5 large Idaho potatoes
2 hardboiled eggs
1 small onion, diced
2 cups miracle whip
¼ cup mustard
¼ cup bacon bits (Tastefully Simple Brand)
2 tb vinegar
1 tb dried onion (Tastefully Simple Brand)
2 tb relish
1 ts Fiesta Party Dip Mix (Tastefully Simple)

Boil potatoes in water until tender. Cool and dice. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Fold in potatoes. Refrigerate 2 hours before serving.

I'm Employed!

I just accepted an offer with Bank A! They are paying in the range I wanted and their benefits are amazing. Right now Tony and I pay over $400 a month for health insurance through his work and with my new job we will only pay $74 a month. In the 9 years we have been married we never have paid so little for health insurance. I start work right away tomorrow. It is not nearly as much money as I was making in my last job but I have benefits and stability. Right now that is the most important thing. It is a better job than what I had prior to my last job.

I am not going to change much about the way Tony and I are living. We learned to live cheap the past three months and I want to continue to live cheap so we work harder on building up our savings account. I am going to continue with selling Tastefully Simple foods and build that business up.

Two Interviews Today!

I had two interviews today. The first interview was my second interview with Bank A. I met with their values team. It is more of an interview to see how my personality fits in with the people in the company. I think I fit in great. The only downfall to this job is I do not see growth or advancement opportunities. Maybe I will see them once I get my foot in the door. On the bright side they are paying in the range I am willing to accept and have an awesome work environment. Given the fact anywhere I get my foot in the door I am going to have to work hard to prove myself and my value. Advancement opportunities will come with time.

My second interview was my first interview with the duck insurance company. I really would love, LOVE to do this job. The downfall is the position is all commissioned based. I would not be making money for the first month but the potential for an incredible career and advancement opportunity is amazing. This interview was with a couple of other interviewees. It was an introduction to the company and the position. Second interviews will be scheduled soon.

I still have one more interview this week with Bank C on Friday.

Your New Tastefully Simple Consultant

I decided to sign up to become a Tastefully Simple Consultant since I love their products and figure it is a great way to make extra cash while I am still job searching. I will not have my website up until next month for online ordering but can take orders through email. For those of you that are interested in hosting a book show or taste testing party or if you want some more information please email me at lhilt@nc.rr.com. Some of you may have already received an email from me. Much Much More to come on this topic.

Thanks to my friend Elissa for hosting my first show at the end of August!

My Weekend in Charleston

I had a great time in Charleston with my friend Crystal. She moved to Charleston from WI earlier this year. We have not seen each other in over five years. I drove down Friday afternoon. She had Chinese takeout was waiting for me. Crystal took me to her friend’s house to cool down in their pool. It was a horrible hot day in the Carolinas and nothing felt better than a dip in a pool. Her friends are so nice and I that bottle of wine they served up for me went down really well.

Saturday we went to downtown Charleston in the historic area. Crystal’s boyfriend drives one of the carriages and we were able to get on his tour. I like doing the carriage tours when I am in Charleston but that day it was around 100 degrees. I had a small lacy fan to try to cool down with but that was not working. I was in the middle of the carriage and sweating so badly. I put my legs up on the bench in front of me to get some air up my dress. I am sure I was showing many people my business but at that point I did not really care. Those nice air conditioned tour buses that were passing us looked better and better as the ride went on. After over an hour in the carriage we finally returned to the barn. The whole bottom of my light blue dress was covered in sweat. Almost looked like I pissed myself but on the back. Lucky for me I was not the only one with massive sweat on my clothes.

Saturday night Crystal and her roommate took me out to an upscale club downtown. I do not even remember the last time I was at a club. It may have been over six years ago when Tony and I lived in WI. Clubs just are not my thing. I am not a dancer but did dance a few songs with Crystal because she loves it so much. At least with it being an upscale club no one bothered me since I was wearing my wedding ring.

Sunday I left around noon and drove home. Tony and I have been together for almost 10 years and we still hate being apart even though we are having fun with friends. Tony had the guys over Friday night and then went out with a few on Saturday so he had a good time.

If you have never been to Charleston, SC it is one of those places you must visit before you die. Put it on your bucket list. This city is so amazingly beautiful and breathe taking. The history in this city is not like any other I have ever been too. The live oak trees are so mesmerizing. They are wider than they are tall and moss hangs from the branches. There are so many things to do and so many places to see. The possibilities are endless. The pictures are some I took last year in Charleston. I have not had the time to upload the new ones.

My Birthday

My birthday started out wonderful. I do not make a big deal about birthdays but today was a great day. I rolled out of bed this morning forgetting it was even my birthday until I entered the living room and Tony put up Happy Birthday banners in the living room and dinning room. He even bought gold confetti and sprinkled it on the table. He is so cute when it comes to birthdays.

I continued on with my day with job searching followed by an interviewing class held by the unemployment office. I scored two interviews today that are scheduled for next week. One of them is with Bank C I mentioned yesterday and the other is with an insurance company with a big duck...hint, hint.

I picked up my bridesmaid dress and the tailor took way too much in around the chest. It is pretty tight and gives me rolls in the back with what little fat I have back there. I am going to take it back tomorrow to see if they can bring it out more. I hope they do not charge me for it since I already picked it up.

I made Tony and me burgers and fries for dinner. Mine was a black bean burger and Tony's was a turkey burger. Nothing fancy since I was headed out to karate while Tony baked my birthday cake. It was the first cake he ever made and he is learning slowly by using a box mix and frosting. One of these days I will teach him how to do every thing from scratch. Takes a long time but the results and self fulfillment are worth it. Back to the cake...since I have my bridesmaid dress to fit into in two weeks I gave him the substitutes to make the cake low fat. Use applesauce instead of oil and egg beaters for real eggs. He did and the cake tasted great. He even put it on my cake plate. I could tell he was pretty proud of himself.



I did not want anything fancy for my birthday since I am not working. Tony was going to buy me a spa session but I told him I would be just as happy with "It's Complicated". I love that movie. That is what he bought me along with a bottle of wine. Perfect!

Double Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe

By request from my blogger fans :) here is the recipe for the Double Chocolate Banana Bread.


Double Chocolate Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
2 eggs (I use egg beaters)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I use 1/3 cup applesauce instead)
1 ¼ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use about ¾ cups)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom of a 8x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Beat sugar, eggs, and oil in large bowl at medium speed until combined. Beat in banana and vanilla on low speed.
3. Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat into banana mixture on low speed. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Spoon batter into loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes.

Without the changes I make the bread is 215 calories and 9 grams of fat per serving (16 servings). With the changes I make it is 175 calories and 4 grams of fat.